Top congressman: Yes, Trump is going to be impeached

This is big news for those clamoring to see a Trump impeachment inquiry.

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-SC) — whose job it is to take stock of where Democrats stand on certain issues in order to accurately gauge vote counts for legislation — said he expects the House will launch impeachment proceedings at some point.

“Yes, that’s exactly what I feel,” Clyburn told CNN’s Jake Tapper on Sunday morning, after Tapper asked whether Clyburn expects the House to launch an impeachment inquiry.

“We do believe that if we sufficiently, effectively, educate the public, then we will have done our job, and we can move on an impeachment vote, and it will stand,” Clyburn said.

Clyburn’s comments suggest there are a large number of House Democrats who support or are moving toward supporting an impeachment inquiry.

Shareblue has been keeping a tally of lawmakers who have publicly called for an inquiry. To date, 62 members of Congress, almost all Democrats, have called for an impeachment inquiry — 56 of them members of the House, which is the chamber tasked with drawing up articles of impeachment. The number has steadily climbed over the past few weeks.

Public support for impeachment is also on the rise.

According to a CNN poll released on Sunday, 41% of Americans believe Trump should be impeached, up from 37% a month earlier.

Pundits have made the case that impeaching Trump could be a political loser for Democrats, comparing it to the impeachment of former President Bill Clinton — an unpopular GOP move that actually lost Republicans seats in the 1998 midterm elections.

However, polling at the time found that impeaching Clinton was extremely unpopular, with just 29% of Americans believing Clinton should have been impeached. That’s a far different scenario than what exists today with Trump.

What’s more, public support for impeaching former President Richard Nixon grew substantially after impeachment hearings began and the evidence of his wrongdoing was presented to the public.

Trump, for his part, appears terrified of impeachment, firing off ridiculous tweets and public comments that show he has absolutely no idea what impeachment is or how it works.

It seems, however, that Trump really does have to fear impeachment, as the House is clearly moving in that direction.

Published with permission of The American Independent Foundation.