Democratic Party Splitting over Infrastructure vs. Impeachment

April 24, 2019 (EIRNS)—The Democratic Party is splitting during a two-week Congressional recess which ends April 29. As more members of its “Resist” faction seize on shards of the Mueller report which they say are a guide to impeachment proceedings against President Donald Trump, the party’s senior leaders are warning that Americans will not sit still for such a divisive campaign.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced, during an “issues” summit April 23, a forthcoming meeting with President Trump to discuss collaborating on infrastructure legislation, and secondarily to arrest pharmaceutical prices. “We’ll be meeting with the President next week when we come back,” Pelosi said, referring to herself and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, “to talk about what the prospect is for the size [of an infrastructure bill], in terms of resources and scope of what that might be.” The meeting will be Tuesday, April 30. It does not appear that the Democrats will go into it with a funding idea beyond the Federal gas tax increase; but they will talk about a commitment of $1-2 trillion in new funding for basic economic infrastructure over 10 years.

In a national party conference call last night, where she discussed this meeting with Trump, Pelosi may have kept the lid on impeachment regarding the key House Committee chairs, but not the presidential candidates. Kamala Harris of California came out for impeachment after the conference call, joining candidates Sen. Elizabeth Warren and former San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro. And House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters, after appearing to defer to Pelosi during the conference call according to the Washington Post, returned to publicly demanding impeachment this morning. Worse, Waters publicly called out Judiciary Committee Chair Jerrold Nadler for not conducting impeachment proceedings in Judiciary Committee. Nadler appears ready to do it, but accepting Pelosi’s leadership.

The currently leading Democratic presidential candidate, Sen. Bernie Sanders, spoke against moving to impeachment at a campaign rally April 23, saying it would distract from economic issues. But the party division looks to be widening.