House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Monday the House will vote this week on a resolution that would formalize procedures for the Trump impeachment inquiry.
“We are taking this step to eliminate any doubt as to whether the Trump Administration may withhold documents, prevent witness testimony, disregard duly authorized subpoenas, or continue obstructing the House of Representatives,” Pelosi said in a letter sent to Democratic House lawmakers.
Fox News has learned the vote will take place Thursday on the House floor.
Republicans for weeks have called for a formal House vote, challenging the legitimacy of the current framework for impeachment proceedings in the absence of one. Earlier this month, the White House wrote a defiant eight-page letter to Pelosi and top Democrats on saying it would not cooperate with the impeachment inquiry.
Pelosi made clear in her letter they are holding the vote because of the Republican complaints. She accused Trump and his GOP allies of holding the position that “because the House has not taken a vote, they may simply pretend the impeachment inquiry does not exist.” Even as she announced a formal vote, Pelosi insisted Monday that argument “has no merit.”
“This resolution establishes the procedure for hearings that are open to the American people, authorizes the disclosure of deposition transcripts, outlines procedures to transfer evidence to the Judiciary Committee as it considers potential articles of impeachment, and sets forth due process rights for the president and his counsel,” she said.
It’s possible, however, Republicans may still argue that this doesn’t actually codify the impeachment proceedings.
Just two weeks ago, Pelosi met with the Democratic caucus and said that there would be no formal vote at that point on the launch of formal impeachment proceedings, despite the GOP pressure.
“There’s no requirement that we have a vote, and so at this time we will not be having a vote,” Pelosi said Oct. 15. “We’re not here to call bluffs — we’re here to find the truth, to uphold the Constitution of the United States. This is not a game for us. This is deadly serious.”
On Wednesday, the Democratic chairman of the Rules Committee, Massachusetts Rep. James McGovern, said the committee will mark up the impeachment procedure resolution Wednesday.
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“As committees continue to gather evidence and prepare to present their findings, I will be introducing a resolution to ensure transparency and provide a clear path forward, which the Rules Committee will mark up this week. This is the right thing to do for the institution and the American people,” McGovern said.
Pelosi said Monday the resolution “affirms the ongoing, existing investigation that is currently being conducted by our committees as part of this impeachment inquiry, including all requests for documents, subpoenas for records and testimony, and any other investigative steps previously taken or to be taken as part of this investigation.”
Pelosi on Sept. 24 announced the formalization of the Trump impeachment inquiry, saying at the time that “the president must be held accountable” for his “betrayal of his oath of office, betrayal of our national security, and the betrayal of the integrity of our elections.”
The inquiry was opened after a whistleblower complaint revealed how Trump, during a July phone call, pushed Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter as military aid to the country was being withheld.
Democrats have accused Trump of attempting a quid-pro-quo to have another country investigate a political rival. Trump has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
Fox News’ Chad Pergram and Brooke Singman contributed to this report.
