WASHINGTON – When Spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi was looking for someone to lead the historic debate on the indictment against President Trump in late 2019, she chose a veteran Democrat who had impressed her with a tough, skilled parliamentary hand: Colorado Representative Diana DeGette.
“When I sit here in the speaker’s chair, I can only think how serious this debate is for the future of our republic,” she wrote on Twitter at the time. “The fact that I have been asked to preside over the House for this important moment in our nation’s history is truly an honor.”
Now Ms. Pelosi has reached out to Ms. DeGette again, this time as the impeachment manager, to pursue the case against Mr. Trump in the Senate. In selecting the Colorado Congressman, she selected someone with years of experience in the House of Representatives and in the Chairmanship of the Chairman.
Ms. DeGette, first elected in 1996, was the Democrats’ deputy whip for 14 years – the member of the leadership responsible for counting votes, known in Congress as the whip. She often holds the hammer in the house and turns in and out of the chair as usual.
On Capitol Hill, she carved out a niche in health policy and as a reproductive rights advocate – a legislative portfolio that dates back to her legislature in the 1990s when she wrote what was called the “Bubble Bill”, an eight-foot-long privacy bubble any person within 30 meters of a Colorado health facility, including abortion clinics. The bill survived a challenge from the Supreme Court.
She is also the author of the 21st Century Cures Act, a 2016 measure designed to help accelerate the development of medical products and bring new innovations and advances to patients who need them faster and more efficiently. It was among the last bills that President Barack Obama signed.
When the Democrats recaptured a majority of the House in 2018, Ms. DeGette announced her intention to run for the top whip, which would have made her the number 3 Democrat in the House. But she eventually withdrew from the race, referring to the “internal pressure” of the Democrats to align themselves behind the existing leadership triumvirate of Ms. Pelosi. Representative Steny H. Hoyer of Maryland, the majority leader; and Representative James E. Clyburn of South Carolina, the current whip.
On Tuesday, she said she was “honored” to help with this second impeachment.
“Trump has shown that he is a real threat to this country,” she wrote on Twitter. “I look forward to doing my part to remove him from office immediately.”
