Is Nancy Pelosi serious about impeachment?

She may not have any choice

Nancy Pelosi.
(Image credit: Illustrated | Alex Wong/Getty Images, koksikoks/iStock, Aerial3/iStock)

After being yelled at for months and months for her reluctance to impeach President Trump, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) abruptly reversed course Tuesday and announced she was in favor of opening an impeachment inquiry against him. The reason is the Ukraine story: "The actions taken to date by the president have seriously violated the Constitution," she said. He "must be held accountable — no one is above the law." Apparently the reports of Trump trying to blackmail Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky during a phone call into investigating his top political opponent, former Vice President Joe Biden, was finally a bridge too far, even for moderate Democrats. At time of writing, a little over 200 House Democrats are supporting the impeachment inquiry, with more joining by the hour.

There are real questions about how serious Pelosi is about this. So far the House has not created a special impeachment committee, or indeed voted on anything at all. But already there are strong signs that impeachment is developing a momentum of its own — something even Pelosi will have trouble slowing if she changes her mind again.

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Ryan Cooper

Ryan Cooper is a national correspondent at TheWeek.com. His work has appeared in the Washington Monthly, The New Republic, and the Washington Post.