The Reach To Impeach, Con't

Jerry Nadler and House Judiciary Democrats are running out of "DO SOMETHING" options that aren't impeachment at this point, while the Trump regime just laughs and keeps flipping the table over again and again.

A growing number of Democratic committee members are pushing Nadler to take more aggressive steps to force President Donald Trump and top administration officials to comply with a host of congressional subpoenas. Some lawmakers even want Congress to dust off its little-used authority to fine or even jail witnesses, something that the House hasn't done in more than 80 years and is ill-prepared to execute.

But Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her leadership team worry that such moves, while pleasing to a party base that loathes the president, would backfire and boost Trump politically.

Caught in the middle is Nadler, a 71-year-old Democrat who has long been a thorn in Trump's side. Anything he does will displease some key constituency — either at home in his New York City district, in his committee room in the Rayburn House Office Building or in the Capitol’s leadership suites.

The new push inside the Judiciary Committee to use its “inherent contempt” power against Trump administration officials underscores the larger challenge facing House Democrats in responding to the president's blanket stonewalling.

While Pelosi and her lieutenants have all but ruled out impeaching Trump — despite incessant calls to do so from party activists and some lawmakers — the White House keeps upping the stakes by refusing to comply with House probes into Trump’s finances and conduct. That leaves Democrats with few tools to respond effectively short of taking Trump to court, a risky and time-consuming process that could take months or years to resolve.

But doing nothing isn’t an option for Democrats, who don’t want to look feckless in the face of Trump’s defiance.

Trump "certainly is the best argument for impeachment there is," said Rep. Jamie Raskin, a member of the Judiciary and Oversight panels. "This is the most impeachable president in the history of the United States of America. But that still leaves us a whole bunch of questions about what to do and when to do it."

The problem is outside of impeachment, there's no enforcement mechanism to compel Republicans to actually do anything that won't be tied up in courts until after the election, and even with impeachment, there's zero chance Trump is removed from office.

Practically, it doesn't matter what Nadler chooses to do here when it comes to Trump remaining in office.

It won't make a lick of difference either way with the GOP.

Now, with Democrats, that's a different story.  We'll see.