General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Does Pelosi need a majority in the House to start Impeachment hearings? [View all]StarfishSaver
(18,486 posts)The standard way for an impeachment inquiry to start is for the House of Representatives to vote to authorize the Judiciary Committee to begin an inquiry. This would be initiated with an impeachment inquiry resolution introduced on the floor by any Member, which would immediately be referred to the Judiciary Committee, where it would be "marked up" (essentially amended/edited, if necessary), voted on by the Committee, and then referred back to the floor for a vote by the full House. If a majority of Members vote yes, the Judiciary Committee would begin hearings and other proceedings related to impeachment.
That would be the normal procedure. However, it is also possible for the Judiciary Committee chairman to begin an inquiry in committee without first getting the full House approval. However, that would be an unusual course of action taken only under extraordinary circumstances. At this point, I think it unlikely that Nadler would unilaterally begin an inquiry without House approval BUT I see a scenario where that could take place:
If it gets to the point that a critical mass of Members strongly support impeachment and they are very close to a majority, but they just can't quite get to the 218 needed to approve a resolution to start the inquiry AND if Pelosi and Nadler believe that they will be able to convince that handful of recalcitrant Members to vote to impeach AFTER more evidence comes out in hearings, it's possible that Nadler would start proceedings in Committee without a House vote.