Clyburn says House would move forward on impeachment vote without GOP support

A top House Democrat predicted on Sunday that the lower chamber would move forward with a vote on impeachment against President Trump without support from GOP lawmakers.

When asked by CNN’s Dana Bash on “State of the Union” if he would support a House vote on impeachment without backing from Republican colleagues, Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) said, “We would. Absolutely.”

{mosads}“I think when we talk about bipartisan support, we’re not limiting that to the Congress,” Clyburn said, referring to  Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-Calif.) statement from March, when she said impeachment needed bipartisan support to be successful in Congress.

“I don’t think she was limiting that to the Congress,” he added. “She knows the Congress very well, and she knows how Republican colleagues are prone to vote on these issues within the party.”

Clyburn cited polls showing the American public increasingly supporting an impeachment inquiry. These recent surveys have mainly shown a rise in support of the investigation among independents.

Bash then asked if Clyburn thought GOP lawmakers would change their minds to reflect public opinion. 

“Well, that may be true,” he said. “But what’s that level we have to get to for them to have to change?”

Pelosi launched an impeachment inquiry after a whistleblower report surfaced showing President Trump asked the Ukrainian president for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son. 

The House voted along party lines last Thursday to support the impeachment inquiry rules. No GOP lawmakers supported the measure in the lower chamber’s first vote on the inquiry. 

Three House committees have been holding closed-door hearings with former and current Trump officials as part of the inquiry.