Most of New Jersey’s representatives in Congress say that they are in support of an impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump’s conversations with the president of Ukraine.
Many New Jersey representatives have been calling for months on Speaker Nancy Pelosi to open the inquiry. But political experts say that an inquiry does come with some risks for the speaker and her House majority.
“If the caucus goes forward and the goods aren't there, then, the case isn't there…then the House, the majority, could be at risk,” says Micah Rasmussen with the Rebovich Institute.
Rasmussen says that Pelosi has been resisting opening an impeachment probe for Trump.
“She has been steadfastly refusing to go there. She's not out to get him by any means. She wants to let him hang himself,” he says.
But not all of New Jersey’s representatives are on board with impeachment. South Jersey Democrat Rep. Jeff Van Drew has said he prefers to wait for the 2020 election. North Jersey Democrat Rep. Josh Gottheimer says he will await the conclusions of the inquiry before deciding whether he will support impeachment.
New Jersey's lone Republican member of the House, Rep. Chris Smith, has also previously said that he does not support impeachment.
“What's going to move the House members is if public opinion starts to turn. What's going to move the Senate…is when public opinion starts to turn,” Rasmussen says.
Reports of the call between President Trump and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky were a deal breaker for Democratic Rep. Mikie Sherrill, who wrote in the Washington Post that "If these allegations are true" they "represent an impeachable offense."
Both presidents have denied that there was anything improper about their conversation.