Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi appeared to back off the possibility of impeaching President Donald Trump a second time in an attempt to thwart his efforts to fill the Supreme Court vacancy created by the death of Ruth Bader Ginsburg.
“I don’t think he’s worth the trouble at this point,” the California congresswoman said to reporters Thursday, Fox News reported.
The statement came four days after she refused to rule out the possibility during an interview with ABC.
“Well, we have our options,” she said. “We have arrows in our quiver that I’m not about to discuss right now."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy has vowed to use a procedural maneuver called “a motion to vacate” to oust his fellow Californian from the speaker’s seat if she moved forward with her veiled threat.
Pelosi’s latest comments came on the one-year anniversary of her announcement of an impeachment investigation of Trump, who ultimately was impeached and acquitted by the Senate.
Democrats have been animated since Trump and the Republicans announced the intention to fill the seat of Ginsburg, who died on Sept. 17. New York Rep. Jerrold "Jerry" Nadler has suggested if the Republicans fill Ginsburg’s seat, the Democrats should add justices to restore a liberal majority.
Others have suggested adding Washington, D.C., and Puerto Rico as states, which presumably would add more Democrats to the House and Senate.
The death of Ginsburg gives Trump an opportunity to nominate a third justice to the Supreme Court, which he has promised to do on Saturday. The Senate previously has confirmed Neil Gorsuch and Brett Kavanaugh.
But Gorsuch filled the seat vacated by the death of conservative icon Antonin Scalia and Kavanaugh replaced the nominally conservative Anthony Kennedy. Ginsburg’s death would create the opportunity for Trump to replace a noted liberal with a much more conservative judge.