Thirty-one Democrats are torn over how to vote on Trump impeachment. They won in Trump districts, and a vote for impeachment could be the death knell for their careers in Congress. That's why representatives like Elissa Slotkin, a Democrat who represents Michigan's red leaning 8th congressional district, is taking her time.
"I'm not going to be pushed into voting for impeachment," Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-MI) told Fox News's Bill Hemmer on Friday morning. "I literally have not made up my mind."
The congresswoman has been listening closely to her constituents who she described as being "definitely engaged" on impeachment, both for and against.Slotkin needs more time and more context. Over the weekend she plans to look through all those hundreds of pages of reports related to the inquiry, as well as look back at the documents from the impeachment proceedings against Presidents Nixon and Clinton.
Hemmer noted how the impeachment inquiry has "zero Republican support." Slotkin admitted she "doesn't like it" because "bipartisanship is something I really believe in." She said her work both as a CIA officer and a soldier has taught her that "sometimes you have to make calls" not based on polling, but "on integrity."
"If this is the end of my political career, at least I'm doing what I think is right," she said.
Slotkin defeated incumbent Republican Rep. Mike Bishop in November 2018 in a district that had been held by Republicans for nearly two decades. Thirty other Democrats are in a similar boat, with only two willing to come out so far to say they're not voting for impeachment.
Slotkin has been having plenty of tough conversations with her colleagues because "short of a declaration of war," a number of them think "this is the most serious vote they'll ever take."
"A few of us are trying to be thoughtful," she said. "For me this is deadly serious."
The transcript of the phone call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Zelensky was the reason she came out in support of an inquiry. She admitted that while it was "normal" for a U.S. president to ask foreign governments to do things, she discovered at least an "inclination" that Trump wasn't just looking out for the interests of Americans when he asked Ukraine to investigate the Bidens, but for his own personal gain.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi told reporters on Thursday that she would not be whipping or pressuring Trump-district Democrats into voting with the majority.
Slotkin said that after talking with her husband, her team and her constituents over the weekend, she will make the call "before close of business on Monday."
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