Freshman Democratic Rep. Lauren Underwood on Tuesday endorsed an impeachment inquiry of President Donald Trump, putting the issue in play as she seeks reelection in what has traditionally been a Republican suburban and exurban district.
Underwood, of Naperville, issued a statement on Twitter in which she said she has long supported “the impeachment-related investigation” led by House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler, D-N.Y., and other Democratic-led House panels.
Nadler has recently acknowledged that the committee is conducting formal impeachment proceedings, noting documents his panel has filed in federal court citing its role in recommending articles of impeachment.
Underwood said Nadler’s court filing last month “clearly states that the Judiciary Committee is investigating whether to recommend Articles of Impeachment, essentially an impeachment inquiry. I support this investigation.”
Underwood becomes the 126th member of the House to endorse a formal impeachment inquiry of Trump. Former Republican Rep. Justin Amash of Michigan, who switched his party identification to independent, is the lone non-Democrat seeking impeachment proceedings, according to NPR’s “impeachment tracker.”
Underwood has previously said voters in her far western and northwest suburban 14th Congressional District were not interested in impeachment but were focused on more domestic issues such as health care. Earlier this month, in a podcast, she said that without community support for moving forward with impeachment, “it looks like a power grab.”
Underwood’s announcement comes after U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, the assistant House speaker, this week became the highest ranking member of Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s leadership team to endorse impeachment proceedings.
Underwood was part of a blue wave in the 2018 midterm elections that saw her defeat four-term Republican Randy Hultgren of Plano by nearly 15,000 votes. Trump won the district by about 4 percentage points in 2016.
Underwood joined Sean Casten of Downers Grove in flipping seats long held by Republicans. Casten, who defeated six-term Republican Peter Roskam in the west and north suburban 6th Congressional District, announced in June that he was supporting an impeachment inquiry of the president.
“No person in America is above the law, including the president of the United States,” Underwood said. She said special counsel Robert Mueller’s report “lays out substantial evidence that the president’s campaign worked with a foreign adversary to influence an election” and that “the president has stated he would welcome foreign help to win the 2020 election.”
“I find this extremely concerning,” Underwood said.
“Let me be clear: No one wins when Congress is compelled to investigate impeachment or bring about articles of impeachment. This is a tragedy for our country,” she said.
Underwood’s announcement makes impeachment a likely topic among the five Republicans who have filed papers with the Federal Election Commission seeking to challenge her in the November 2020 general election. They include state Sens. Jim Oberweis of Sugar Grove and Sue Rezin of Morris, James Marter of Oswego, Ted Gradel of Naperville and Danny Malouf of Woodstock.
Gradel responded to Underwood’s announcement by citing her previous comments hesitant of an impeachment inquiry and said, “Once again Underwood has sided with the extreme wing of her party at the expense of her constituents here in Illinois.”
Of the 13 Democrats in Illinois’ 18-member House delegation, Underwood becomes the eighth to back an impeachment inquiry. In addition to Underwood and Casten, an inquiry is backed by Reps. Robin Kelly of Matteson and Jan Schakowsky of Evanston and Chicago Reps. Mike Quigley, Bobby Rush, Danny Davis, and Jesus “Chuy” Garcia.
The other five members of the delegation have taken a wait-and-see stance more in line with Pelosi. They are: Reps Raja Krishnamoorthi of Schaumburg, Bill Foster of Naperville, Brad Schneider of Deerfield, Dan Lipinski of Western Springs and Cheri Bustos of Moline. Bustos heads the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.
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