Two top Democratic leaders rebuked Rep. Shri Thanedar (D-Mich.) over his decision to seek a vote on impeaching President Donald Trump during a pivotal legislative week.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries and Minority Whip Katherine Clark spoke with Thanedar on Tuesday, according to multiple people familiar with the outreach.
Thanedar angered Democrats across the caucus because of the timing of his move — in the midst of the reconciliation markups full of hot-button issues like Medicaid and tax. Plus there’s the fact that such a vote could be politically toxic for battleground Democrats who need to court Trump voters.
“It’s completely unhelpful,” said Rep. Susie Lee (D-Nev.), the battleground members’ representative in House leadership. “I think it’s crazy.”
“As someone who voted to impeach Donald Trump twice, he should be impeached, but we don’t have the votes to do it,” added Rep. Veronica Escobar (D-Texas).
Privately, Democrats have accused Thanedar of tacking left because he recently landed a primary challenger, Michigan state Rep. Donavan McKinney.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) has already endorsed McKinney while offering blistering criticism of Thanedar’s performance as a two-term lawmaker.
For his part, Thanedar acknowledged that his colleagues had expressed concerns to him over his decision to push an impeachment vote against Trump right now. But Thanedar said he wasn’t backing down.
“The timing is always right to do the right thing,” Thanedar said.
