Dem
51
GOP
49
Yesterday we had an item on how Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) is in a vise and being squeezed by the Freedom Caucus and his own moderates (the Biden 18) about impeaching Joe Biden. He decided to give in and start an impeachment inquiry, and to hell with the moderates.
It turns out there is more to the story. Donald Trump is actively pressuring McCarthy to find 11,780 ... no wait, that is a different story. Sorry. Last Sunday, Trump dined with Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) at his Bedminster, NJ, golf club. She had already introduced articles of impeachment against the President and told Trump she wanted the investigation to be "long and excruciatingly painful for Joe Biden."
Trump is certainly helping. He has been in regular contact with multiple members of the Freedom Caucus and is egging them on. He has also talked to Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY), the #3 House Republican, about the impeachment. He even thanked her in public for pushing it along. Trump has a short memory and doesn't seem to remember that when the opposition tries to impeach an incumbent president just because it can (think: Bill Clinton in 1998), it can backfire spectacularly.
Trump has also attacked the Justice Dept. For example, in March he said: "They persecuted us and yet Joe Biden is a stone-cold criminal, caught dead to rights, and nothing happens to him. Forget the family. Nothing happens to him." Recently he posted a message to his boutique social media platform reading: "SO, THEY IMPEACH ME OVER A PERFECT PHONE CALL, AND THEY DON'T IMPEACH BIDEN FOR BEING THE MOST CORRUPT PRESIDENT IN THE HISTORY OF THE UNITED STATES???" Later he posted: "EITHER IMPEACH THE BUM, OR FADE INTO OBLIVION. THEY DID IT TO US!" So he has been actively pushing the FC to get on with the impeachment.
Most likely Trump's pressure is the main reason McCarthy decided to go ahead with the impeachment inquiry. He had to throw the FC a bone, and Trump's pressure made it that bone. He could have given them a bone on immigration or some other issue, but then he would have had to fend off Trump yelling: "TIME TO VACATE THE CHAIR" and he knows it would take only five Republican votes (plus all the Democrats) to cost him his dream job. Or was it his nightmare job? We're not sure. (V)