Pelosi slams McCarthy over report he will hold vote on expunging Trump impeachments
In a report late last week, Politico alleged that House Speaker Kevin McCarthy promised to hold a vote on expunging former President Trump's two impeachment votes.
While McCarthy has denied the claim, that didn't stop California Rep. Nancy Pelosi from lashing out.
Pelosi: "This is not responsible"
During a Sunday appearance on CNN's "State of the Union," Pelosi told host Dana Bash that McCarthy is "playing politics."
"Kevin [McCarthy] is playing politics."
Former House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) reacts to current House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) previously supporting the idea to bring a House floor vote to expunge former President Donald Trump's impeachments. @CNNSotu #CNNSOTU pic.twitter.com/J8wgY37vfB
— CNN (@CNN) July 23, 2023
"It is not even clear if he constitutionally can expunge those things. If he wants to put his members on the spot, his members in difficult races on the spot, that is a decision he has to make. But this is not responsible," Pelosi complained.
Pelosi was not alone in going after McCarthy, as Breitbart noted that California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff did so on Sunday as well.
Schiff calls expungement idea "a farce"
"In the minute we have left, Speaker McCarthy has said he supports expunging Donald Trump’s impeachment," Schiff told Jonathan Capehart, who hosts MSNBC’s "The Sunday Show."
"What do you make of that prospect? Especially as the lead impeachment manager for his first impeachment," Capehart asked the California congressman.
"There is no constitutional provision, or constitutional mechanism to do such a thing," he insisted while denouncing the idea as "a farce."
"It doesn’t mean they won’t do it. McCarthy and the Republican leadership in Congress have shown there is no floor below which they will not sink to debase themselves for Donald Trump," the longtime Democrat continued.
"We could very well have a vote on it. It will be a meaningless gesture to their most flawed, unethical leader. You know, Kevin McCarthy will probably not have any problem with that," he concluded.
McCarthy denies making any promises to Trump
For his part, McCarthy told reporters in January that he "would look at" holding a vote on expungement at some point in time.
"Our first priority is to get our economy back on track, secure our borders, make our streets safe again, give parents the opportunity to have a say in their education, and actually hold government accountable. But I understand why individuals want to do it, and we’d look at it," Fox News quoted him as saying at a press conference.
However, McCarthy was adamant when speaking with NBC News on Capitol Hill this past Thursday that he never made any promises to Trump regarding the issue.
.@SpeakerMcCarthy denies promising Trump he would hold a vote on expunging Trump’s impeachments, as reported by Playbook this AM, telling @ryanobles, “They did it for purely political purposes. I support expungement but there's no deal out there.” —> pic.twitter.com/qNzrPQEKD7
— Rebecca Kaplan (@RebeccaRKaplan) July 20, 2023