09/26/2019

Impeachment Inquiry Could Bog Down Legislative Agenda

GOP leadership says the issue will derail all legislative action

House Democrats’ decision to pursue an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump could slow down the progress of a slew of other issues Congress wants to address, such as infrastructure, gun control, a trade deal with Canada and Mexico and the fiscal year 2020 appropriations process.

Just hours after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) announced the impeachment inquiry, which centers around a whistleblower complaint and Trump’s discussions with Ukraine’s new president about investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, the White House accused Democrats of abandoning legislative priorities in favor of a partisan investigation of Trump.

“House Democrats have destroyed any chances of legislative progress for the people of this country by continuing to focus all their energy on partisan political attacks,” White House Press Secretary Stephanie Grisham said in a statement. “Their attacks on the president and his agenda are not only partisan and pathetic, they are in dereliction of their Constitutional duty.”

Speaking to reporters during the United Nations (UN) General Assembly meeting in New York yesterday, Trump said Democrats will be blamed for not moving on major legislative issues pending this year.

“Then, they all wonder why they don’t get gun legislation done, then they wonder why they don’t get drug prices lowered,” Trump said. “Because all they do is talk nonsense. No more infrastructure bills, no more anything.”

Congressional Democrats said they have an obligation to investigate the whistleblower complaint and whether the president called upon a foreign power to intervene in his reelection campaign, but will simultaneously pursue their legislative agenda.

“We’re going to try to work on issues with our Republican colleagues, even with the president, when we can,” Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) told The New York Times. “We believe we need to do something about guns. We believe we need to reduce the cost of prescription drugs. The $64,000 question is will the president want to work with us, given what happened. We shall see.”

This article was provided to OSAE by the Power of A and ASAE's Inroads.