Susan Ferrechio of the Washington Examiner highlights Democrats’ assessments of the impeachment frenzy on Capitol Hill.
House Democrats say constituents have mixed reviews about the public impeachment proceedings that are entering a second week.
“We’ve gotten some calls on it but not a huge uptick,” freshman Rep. Haley Stevens of Michigan told the Washington Examiner. “By and large, they are talking to me about the manufacturing issues. It’s not been huge on impeachment.”
Stevens, 36, is among dozens of swing state Democrats defending seats in battleground districts where impeaching President Trump is not particularly popular.
Stevens nonetheless defended the proceedings, which she supported in an Oct. 31 House resolution.
“I’ve got to see as this continues,” Stevens said. “But opening it up was very important.” …
… Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri, a safe Democrat from a former battleground district, said at a recent town hall meeting his urban constituents are eager to discuss impeachment. But his rural constituents are not interested.
“They don’t get into the details of it,” said Cleaver, 75. “They say, ‘We wish you wouldn’t spend a lot of time on it when you could be helping us.’”
Democrats are under increasing pressure to demonstrate the impeachment proceedings are not sidelining legislative priorities that constituents are clamoring they act on, including prescription drug prices, a critical trade deal with Mexico and Canada, and other measures.
Democrats insist they can conduct the legislative agenda while also investigating the president.
“They know we can do both,” Rep. Ann Kuster of New Hampshire told the Washington Examiner.
