Rep. Jim Himes (D-Conn.), a senior member of the House Intelligence Committee, on Monday became the latest Democrat to publicly back launching impeachment proceedings against President Trump.
“It is time for the House of Representatives to begin an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump,” Himes tweeted.
“Those that know me know that I generally shy away from sharp partisanship in favor of the negotiation and compromise required for law to be made. But there are moments for calculation. For prudence, compromise and the careful weighing of competing interests. And there are moments for clarity and conviction. This is such a moment.”
Himes’s announcement makes him at least the 74th Democrat to come out in support of an impeachment inquiry, despite House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) resistance to such a move. Five other members of the House Intelligence panel have also come out in support of an inquiry.
The Connecticut lawmaker in the past has been resistant to the impeachment movement. Following Rep. Al Green’s (D-Texas) effort to launch impeachment proceedings against Trump in 2017, Himes said his constituents “don’t see calls for an impeachment that’s not going to happen anytime soon to be in the service of making their lives better.”
Despite the mounting pressure within her caucus, Pelosi has said Democrats are “not even close” to beginning the impeachment process against Trump.
“Why are we speculating on hypotheticals?” she asked during an interview with CNN’s Manu Raju earlier in June. “What we’re doing is winning in court. We won a victory getting the documents from the Justice Department today for fear of further going to court.”
Pro-impeachment Democrats still represent fewer than one-quarter of the total number of the caucus.