Only two House Democrats voted against Thursday’s resolution formally authorizing the ongoing impeachment inquiry into Donald Trump, Yahoo News reports: Collin Peterson of Minnesota and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey. However, it appears that only one of them voted with the belief that Trump has not done anything worthy of impeachment.
As previously reported by The Inquisitr , the House voted 232-196 in favor of formally authorizing the impeachment inquiry that had already begun. Trump had complained that the inquiry was illegal and unconstitutional due, in part, to the House having never held a formal vote to authorize it. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had stated that there was, constitutionally speaking, no need for a formal vote to authorize the inquiry, but later scheduled such a vote anyway.
No House Republicans voted in favor of authorizing the inquiry. All but two Democrats voted yes, and the House’s one Independent, Justin Amash, also voted yes. Amash had been a member of the Republican Party until he changed his affiliation to Independent.
Jeff Van Drew’s Vote
Van Drew is a freshman congressman, elected in 2018 to represent New Jersey’s 2nd District, a district that Trump won by five points in 2016. Last month, Van Drew told Fox News that, from where he sat, he hadn’t seen anything worthy of impeachment.
However, following Thursday’s vote, he issued a statement in which he indicated that he isn’t ruling out voting in favor of impeaching Trump, if or when the House formally holds a vote on Articles of Impeachment.
“Now that a vote has taken place and we are moving forward, I will be making a judgment call based on all the evidence presented by these investigations,” he said.
Collin Peterson’s Vote
Peterson has been in Congress since 1990, representing Minnesota’s 7th District, a district that Trump won by 31 points in 2016, but that is considered a toss-up for 2020.
In contrast to Van Drew’s vote, Peterson’s vote appears not to have come from the belief that Trump has done nothing deserving of impeachment, but of believing impeachment is a pointless exercise. In a statement issued last month, Peterson suggested that impeachment will serve merely to divide the country further.
“If anyone thinks a partisan impeachment process would constrain President Trump, they are fooling themselves. Without significant bipartisan support, impeachment proceedings will be a lengthy and divisive action with no resolution,” he said at the time.
Following Thursday’s vote, Peterson issued a statement , calling the process “hopelessly partisan.” He also noted that he will not make a decision on an impeachment vote, if and when it comes to it, until he’s been presented with all of the facts.
