LANSING, MI -- Two Michigan Democratic members of Congress are hopeful the ongoing impeachment inquiry could be wrapped up in time for Christmas.
U.S. Reps. Dan Kildee, D-Flint, and Elissa Slotkin, D-Holly, discussed the inquiry with MLive before a scheduled forum at the Lansing Regional Chamber of Commerce Thursday. Both said the inquiry, which seeks to determine whether President Donald Trump abused his power by soliciting a foreign government to investigate his top political rival, should be narrowly focused and move relatively quickly.
“My view has been that we have this one very serious question around the president’s request of Ukraine to get involved in the election by investigating his opponent and (the inquiry) should be focused on that,” Kildee said. “So I don’t think it should be something that goes on, and I think this should be very concise, and we could be able to get it done by Christmas.”
The inquiry, which began Sept. 24, entered a new phase last week when the House approved rules for public hearings. House committees leading the impeachment inquiry scheduled public hearings and began releasing transcripts from closed-door interviews with officials who expressed concerns about Trump’s efforts to urge Ukraine to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his family.
Michigan’s six Republican U.S. House members voted against the resolution to formalize the impeachment inquiry last week. It passed without the support of any House Republicans.
Michigan’s GOP House delegation argued that closed-door depositions, held in committees they do not serve on, eroded any hope of transparency in the impeachment process.
Kildee said those concerns represent talking points “without much merit.” Closed-door depositions are needed when sensitive information is being discussed, he said, and public hearings are on the calendar.
“I think it’s unfortunate that (Republicans) are not focusing on the most serious point,” Kildee said. “And that is that we have a president who, by his own admission, solicited support from a foreign government to investigate one of his political opponents. I wish that some of the outrage that they seem so trained on process issues could also be focused on the behavior of this president, which is really kind of frightening.”
All seven of Michigan’s Democratic members of the House and independent U.S. Rep. Justin Amash voted to authorize the inquiry.
Under the Constitution, the House has the power to formally charge a federal official by adopting articles of impeachment, which are effectively written accusations similar to an indictment. The Senate has the power to adjudicate an impeachment and render a verdict regarding whether the individual should be removed from office.
Two-thirds of Senators voting must agree to convict and remove an official from office, though this appears unlikely under the Republican-majority Senate.
Slotkin had opposed pursuing impeachment charges in response to the findings of a Special Counsel report into the 2016 election. The former CIA analyst said the Ukraine situation is different.
“It was prospective, not retrospective,” Slotkin said. “It was about a future election, not a past election. And it was something different in my mind. Even though it was a difficult decision, maybe politically, I made it because I believe we had to send a real clear signal that something like this deserved at least further investigation.”
Still, Slotkin said it’s important for the American people to understand why House Democrats are pursuing the inquiry.
A recent poll from the New York Times/Siena College found 50% of voters battleground states, including Michigan, support the inquiry. However, 53% oppose removing Trump, according to the survey conducted from Oct. 13-20.
Republicans are using the impeachment fight to escalate attacks on Slotkin, a freshmen Democrat hoping to defend the once-reliably Republican district she flipped in 2018.
Slotkin and Kildee stressed their work on issues like trade and lowering prescription drug prices continues even while the House plans for public depositions to begin next week. Neither serves on committees leading the impeachment inquiry, and Slotkin said the inquiry hasn’t distracted from her work in Congress.
“I think there’s a perception that we can’t do anything else, and that may be how the media is portraying it, but those of us who are on other committees are just continuing to have our nose down and do that work while the committee’s of jurisdiction do their thing,” Slotkin said.
Slotkin lamented news coverage of the inquiry, saying the media often focuses on divisiveness in Congress instead of bipartisan progress being made.
“In Michigan, most of us live ... in the middle," she said. "We just want to see our government work.”
Lowering prescription drug and health care costs remains a top priority, she said. Last week, the House passed her bipartisan legislation to provide Medicare patients with better information about the cost of a prescription.
Slotkin is back in Michigan’s 8th district Friday for a town hall focused on health care.
Kildee said he is focused on making adjustments to the United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement.
Kildee also blamed the Republican-controlled Senate for not voting on bills passed by Democrats in the House.
“People sometimes say The impeachment itself is sort of the obstacle to us getting things done,” Kildee said. “The obstacle is the sentence not taking up the legislation that we’re sending them. And these are good bills, very often bipartisan bills, that they’re simply not taking up.”
Related links about impeachment:
Michigan GOP congressmen ask Pelosi to release impeachment inquiry documents
Trump says Dems are wasting time, energy on ‘bulls***’ as impeachment talk grows
Trump campaign expects impeachment fight to boost turnout in Michigan battlegrounds
Trump and Democrats raise big bucks off impeachment inquiry
Michigan’s GOP congressmen reject impeachment but avoid questions on Trump’s conduct