Breaking NYT : Shifting Course, Democrats Plan First Floor Vote on Impeachment Inquiry

[Celerity]

House Democrats, who have said they do not need a formal floor vote to authorize the impeachment inquiry, are planning to hold one this week, to lay out rules for the investigation.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/10/28/us/politics/trump-impeachment-subpoena-house.html?action=click&module=Top%20Stories&pgtype=Homepage

Breaking News Update: The House plans to take its first formal vote Thursday on the impeachment inquiry into President Trump, Democratic leaders said Monday, ushering in a new phase as they prepare to go public with their investigation into his dealings with Ukraine. Democrats described the vote, in which they plan to “affirm” the inquiry, as a necessary next step to be able to push it forward, rather than a response to sustained criticism from Republicans and the White House, who have accused them of throwing out past impeachment precedents and denying the president due process rights.

But it will mark the first time that the full House has gone on record with regard to an inquiry that has been underway since late September. And it comes after Democrats have insisted for weeks that they did not need a formal vote of the full House to authorize the proceedings. Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the vote in a letter to colleagues Monday afternoon.

“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,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement.

Representative Jim McGovern, Democrat of Massachusetts and chairman of the House Rules Committee, said he would introduce the resolution, which has not yet been finalized, on Tuesday. His panel plans to consider it on Wednesday, followed by a vote of the full House on Thursday. “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,” Ms. Pelosi wrote.

snip

[gratuitous]

1. The day after Judge Howell said it wasn't necessary

Link to Daily Kos story here. Key sentence from Judge Howell's ruling:

Trump's Department of Justice had originally argued that the materials shouldn't be released because the House wasn't conducting a formal impeachment inquiry, an argument the judge rejected in her ruling, writing, "Even in cases of presidential impeachment, a House resolution has never, in fact, been required to begin an impeachment inquiry."

We'll see how this plays out, but I would be willing to bet that Trump and his squadron of flying monkeys will take the news of the announcement of the House vote as an admission that everything the House has done up to this point was totally illegal, everything about the process is now tainted, and Trump wins again and forever. The squadron will be echoed and supported by a multiplicity of voices from the usual media precincts.

I hope I'm wrong. But I'll bet a shiny silver dollar I'm not.