Politics
Nancy Pelosi Smacks Down AOC’s Impeachment Push: ‘That’s A Big Threshold To Cross’
Former U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) added her voice to the growing chorus of lawmakers expressing doubt about a third attempt at impeaching President Donald Trump for bombing Iran.
The effort, symbolically headed up by “Squad” Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio Cortez (D-NY), took on new legs Tuesday when Pelosi said she is skeptical about Democrats’ ability to prove that President Trump violated the War Powers Act by declining to seek approval from Congress for hitting Iran with 14 “bunker buster” bombs. The military operation, known as “Midnight Hammer,” has since resulted in a fragile peace agreement with Israel.
“No, no, that’s a big threshold to cross,” says Nancy Pelosi about AOC’s impeachment effort. “Iran cannot have a nuclear weapon.”
Semafor’s Dave Weigel spent Tuesday morning crisscrossing the halls of power as he sought out Democratic powerbrokers who have not yet spoken up about AOC’s flailing impeachment attempt. He tracked down Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-NY), who was similarly cool to the prospect of a third impeachment of Trump.
Trump has committed impeachable offenses, the New York Democrat argued, but insisted that “impeachment doesn’t work.”
President Trump shot down AOC’s impeachment effort in stark personal terms.
“Stupid AOC, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, one of the ‘dumbest’ people in Congress, is now calling for my Impeachment, despite the fact that the Crooked and Corrupt Democrats have already done that twice before. The reason for her ‘rantings’ is all of the Victories that the U.S.A. has had under the Trump Administration,” the president wrote on Truth Social Tuesday.
The Bronx Democrat first moved to try and impeach Trump on Saturday after the U.S. surprised Iran with bombs intended to destroy three nuclear enrichment facilities. Those attacks were followed up on Monday by Israel, which launched another blitz that also targeted the headquarters of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), limiting the ability of Iranian forces to respond to the attack.
“The President’s disastrous decision to bomb Iran without authorization is a grave violation of the Constitution and Congressional War Powers. He has impulsively risked launching a war that may ensnare us for generations,” she wrote Saturday on X. “It is absolutely and clearly grounds for impeachment.”
Pelosi and Nadler were just the latest Democrats to side with Sen. John Fetterman (D-PA), who said on Monday that AOC’s impeachment is “going nowhere” in the Republican-controlled Senate.
“Of course, no [he should not be impeached],” the Pennsylvania Democrat told Fox News.
“She knows it. I know it. We all know it… that’s not going anywhere. He’s been impeached twice, and now he’s still our president as well too, so it’s not going anywhere, and I don’t think [bringing it up is] helpful.”
The president is en route to the Hague, where he is expected to take a victory lap while meeting with NATO officials about the potential for peace between Israel and Iran. He spent part of Tuesday morning berating both countries for momentarily violating the agreement by trading overnight missile barrages.
However, he used the ride on Marine One to rip AOC’s appearance and failure to stem the flow of crime in her district.
“How dare ‘The Mouse’ tell us how to run the United States of America!” he added.
