Henry Rodgers on May 9, 2019
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler in saying the United States is in a “constitutional crisis” Thursday morning, just one day after the committee voted to hold Attorney General William Barr in contempt of Congress.
Pelosi agreed with Nadler’s comments that the U.S. is in a constitutional crisis during Pelosi’s weekly briefing to the press.
“Yes, I do agree with Chairman Nadler because the administration has decided that they’re not going to honor their oath of office,” she told reporters.
Pelosi’s comments come after Nadler and Democrats on the House Judiciary Committee voted to hold Barr in contempt of Congress on Wednesday.
“There can be no higher stakes than this attempt to abrogate all power to the executive branch away from Congress and, more importantly, the American people,” Nadler told reporters Wednesday. “We talked for a long time about approaching a constitutional crisis — we’re now in it. We are now in a constitutional crisis.”
Nadler scheduled the congressional contempt vote for Wednesday at 10 a.m. All Democrats present voted to advance holding Barr in contempt of Congress in the procedural vote Wednesday morning. The committee later voted along party lines, with 24 Democrats voting yes for Barr to be held in contempt of Congress. No Republicans joined.
Before the vote, The White House said the president would use executive privilege to prevent Democratic lawmakers from getting the materials they’re requesting.
Pelosi also said President Donald Trump is “goading” Democrats to impeach him from office because he thinks it will help him fire up his base during a Tuesday interview.
