House Agriculture chairman Collin Peterson and committee member Jeff Van Drew voted against the Democratic-led impeachment inquiry of President Trump on Thursday but said they are reserving judgment on impeachment itself. Peterson and Van Drew, members of the Blue Dog Coalition of fiscally conservative, centrist Democrats, said the investigation was divisive and that the Republican-controlled Senate was likely to acquit Trump if a trial is held.
Representatives passed, 232-196, a resolution that spells out the terms for the inquiry as it goes forward, including public hearings. Peterson and Van Drew were the only lawmakers to break ranks with their party.
First elected to the House in 1990, Peterson represents a heavily Republican district that covers the western third of Minnesota. Trump carried the district with 62 percent of the vote, and Peterson’s victory margins have declined in recent years. He won with 52 percent of the vote in 2018, the same margin that sent Van Drew, a dentist and former state senator, to Congress for the first time last year. He represents the southern quarter of New Jersey.
In a statement, Peterson said, “This impeachment process continues to be hopelessly partisan. I have been hearing from my constituents on both sides of this matter for months, and the escalation of calls this past week just shows me how divided our country really is right now. I have some serious concerns with the way the closed-door depositions were run, and am skeptical that we will have a process that is open, transparent, and fair. Without support from Senate Republicans, going down this path is a mistake. Today’s vote is both unnecessary, and widely misrepresented in the media and by Republicans as a vote on impeachment. I will not make a decision on impeachment until all the facts have been presented.”
Van Drew made similar points: “Without bipartisan support I believe this inquiry will further divide the country, tearing it apart at the seams, and will ultimately fail in the Senate. However, now that the vote has taken place and we are moving forward, I will be making a judgment call based on all the evidence presented by these investigations. My hope is that we are still able to get some work done to help the American people, like infrastructure, veterans’ benefits, environmental protections, immigration reform, reducing prescription drug cost, and strengthening Social Security.”
Vice President Mike Pence quoted part of Peterson’s statement on Twitter and added, “Impeachment obsessed Dems should listen to Collin Peterson.”