“House of Representatives impeached President Bill Clinton Saturday [Dec. 19, 1998] on charges of lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice in the Monica Lewinsky affair. The two allegations of “high crimes and misdemeanors” next go to the Senate for trial.”…He was acquitted in the Senate on Feb. 12, 1999, the announcement made by Supreme Court Chief Justice William Rehnquist.
“President Clinton arrives in the Rose Garden to make a statement after being acquitted of all charges in his impeachment trial in the Senate on Friday, Feb. 12, 1999. (Greg Gibson/AP)
But Democrats-nearly unanimous against the impeachment of the President-argued for a pause. "I think that if we are at war it would be appropriate to postpone the proceedings,” said Representative Lee H. Hamilton, an Indiana Democrat who is retiring from Congress.”
“President Clinton arrives in the Rose Garden to make a statement after being acquitted of all charges in his impeachment trial in the Senate on Friday, Feb. 12, 1999. (Greg Gibson/AP)
12/17/1998, “Impeachment Overview; IMPEACHMENT VOTE IN HOUSE DELAYED AS CLINTON LAUNCHES IRAQ AIR STRIKE, CITING MILITARY NEED TO MOVE SWIFTLY,” NY Times, Alison Mitchell
“…House Republicans tonight postponed the impeachment vote against President Clinton for perhaps a few days because of the bombing campaign against Iraq, even as the odds against the President began to look insurmountable.
Republican after Republican announced new support for impeachment as the lame-duck 105th Congress returned to the Capitol for evening party caucuses on the issue. But the House was soon left reeling at the clash of crises. The first wave of bombs fell in Iraq just minutes before the Republicans began their own closed-door strategy session.…
The Republicans, despite expressing deep suspicions of Mr. Clinton’s motive for ordering the bombing, finally heeded the call from their incoming Speaker, Robert L. Livingston of Louisiana, that the impeachment debate, which had been scheduled for Thursday, be postponed.
Mr. Livingston said, ”We’re going to defer action tomorrow.” Not even bringing himself to mention the word impeachment, he said, "We are reserving our right to move forward with the other action.”
He instructed members to stay in Washington on standby, for debate to resume ”possibly Friday, possibly Saturday, but within the near future.” He said, ”The issue is important and will come up in the next few days.”
Joe Lockhart, the Presidential spokesman, said the White House would have no comment on the House decision to postpone the impeachment vote. "That is a matter for the Congress to decide,” Mr. Lockhart said. Aides soliciting support for Mr. Clinton were told this afternoon to stop lobbying.
As the day wore on, at least nine more Republicans declared they would vote to impeach Mr. Clinton, many of them the moderates whom Mr. Clinton most desperately needed to bring to his side. Their defection left any White House strategy to protect the President in a shambles.
Democrats said that even though it was still mathematically possible, they could no longer see how the President could avoid impeachment — the indictment by the House that would be followed by trial in the Senate--unless military action somehow shifted the mood of the House.
"Unless this action has an unexpected effect, he’s done,” said a Democrat close to the effort to spare Mr. Clinton impeachment.
If Mr. Clinton, as expected, loses only three to five Democrats in the impeachment vote, he needs to draw 14 to 17 Republicans to his side. Democrats had identified about 20 who they thought were the most likely to support him. But most of the Republicans who declared their support for impeachment today were from that crucial group of 20 and it is unlikely that the rest would all go for the President.
“…House Republicans tonight postponed the impeachment vote against President Clinton for perhaps a few days because of the bombing campaign against Iraq, even as the odds against the President began to look insurmountable.
Republican after Republican announced new support for impeachment as the lame-duck 105th Congress returned to the Capitol for evening party caucuses on the issue. But the House was soon left reeling at the clash of crises. The first wave of bombs fell in Iraq just minutes before the Republicans began their own closed-door strategy session.…
The Republicans, despite expressing deep suspicions of Mr. Clinton’s motive for ordering the bombing, finally heeded the call from their incoming Speaker, Robert L. Livingston of Louisiana, that the impeachment debate, which had been scheduled for Thursday, be postponed.
Mr. Livingston said, ”We’re going to defer action tomorrow.” Not even bringing himself to mention the word impeachment, he said, "We are reserving our right to move forward with the other action.”
He instructed members to stay in Washington on standby, for debate to resume ”possibly Friday, possibly Saturday, but within the near future.” He said, ”The issue is important and will come up in the next few days.”
Joe Lockhart, the Presidential spokesman, said the White House would have no comment on the House decision to postpone the impeachment vote. "That is a matter for the Congress to decide,” Mr. Lockhart said. Aides soliciting support for Mr. Clinton were told this afternoon to stop lobbying.
As the day wore on, at least nine more Republicans declared they would vote to impeach Mr. Clinton, many of them the moderates whom Mr. Clinton most desperately needed to bring to his side. Their defection left any White House strategy to protect the President in a shambles.
Democrats said that even though it was still mathematically possible, they could no longer see how the President could avoid impeachment — the indictment by the House that would be followed by trial in the Senate--unless military action somehow shifted the mood of the House.
"Unless this action has an unexpected effect, he’s done,” said a Democrat close to the effort to spare Mr. Clinton impeachment.
If Mr. Clinton, as expected, loses only three to five Democrats in the impeachment vote, he needs to draw 14 to 17 Republicans to his side. Democrats had identified about 20 who they thought were the most likely to support him. But most of the Republicans who declared their support for impeachment today were from that crucial group of 20 and it is unlikely that the rest would all go for the President.
Two Republicans said they were still struggling for a possible compromise on impeachment. Representatives Peter T. King and Amo Houghton, both of New York, said they had written a censure proposal they hoped to submit on Thursday.
It will specify that Mr. Clinton lied under oath about his relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky, require him to pay a fine of $500,000, deny him the opportunity to deliver the State of the Union address in person, bar him from fund-raising and keep him from holding future office.
Mr. Houghton said he presented the proposal to Mr. Clinton in an Oval Office meeting and the President did not reject it, though he did not agree with all of it.
But Mr. Livingston has said a censure resolution will not be considered in the House. And several Republicans said today’s military action had only hardened the resolve in their party to impeach.
"If anything, suspicions around the timing of the action in Iraq has solidified support against the President,” said Representative Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican.
The Democrats, who are almost united against impeachment, rallied behind the President. Some even called for impeachment to be put off into the next Congress, when the Democrats will have five more seats and Mr. Clinton might have more of a chance of avoiding being only the second President impeached by the House.
‘‘I don’t understand why this can’t go over to the next Congress,” said Representative Henry A. Waxman, a California Democrat.
Representative Richard A. Gephardt, the House minority leader, said, "There was a unanimous feeling in our caucus that it should not come up as long as our troops are in harm’s way."
But Representative Dick Armey of Texas, the House majority leader, said the fact that Republicans had doubts about the legitimacy of the military action showed that Mr. Clinton was losing his ability to lead. ‘‘If the President refuses to resign for the sake of the nation, I believe he should be impeached and face Senate trial.”
Both political parties went straight from their respective meetings to the House floor for a briefing by the President’s entire national security team. The departing Speaker, Newt Gingrich, worked with Cabinet officials to organize that session while Mr. Livingston helped conduct the Republican caucus on impeachment.
At the White House, Mr. Lockhart, dismissed any suggestion that Clinton was using his powers as Commander in Chief to avoid becoming the first President to be impeached since Andrew Johnson 130 years ago.
Though most polls show that most Americans oppose impeachment, it was unclear if and how the bombing strikes would affect public opinion.
Throughout the extraordinary day, Republicans tried to assure the nation of the stability of foreign policy even as one after another they announced their decisions to vote for the President’s impeachment. "I am comforted by the fact that the President is in contact with the bipartisan leadership,” said Representative Sherwood Boehlert, a New York Republican, as he announced that he had decided to vote for impeachment.
"This has been by far the most difficult, even tormenting decision I have had to make in my 16 years in Congress,” Mr. Boehlert said speaking softly before television cameras. "I simply have not found the means to rationalize away the fact that our President lied under oath, that he has tried repeatedly to game the judicial system.”
Other Republicans spoke in similar uncompromising terms. "I get the impression that the President considers himself above the law,” said Representative John E. Porter, an Illinois Republican who had once said he would oppose impeachment, but now said he would support it on the House floor....
The others who came out against Mr. Clinton made up a roster of Republicans he had hoped to sway, including Brian P. Bilbray of California, Jim Leach of Iowa and Bob Ney of Ohio.
In San Diego, as he headed for Washington, Mr. Bilbray said he had ”very, very frank” discussions with White House staff on Tuesday night and ultimately concluded he had to vote for impeachment.
"I cannot as a man, husband, elected official or a father say that the President did not commit perjury,” Mr. Bilbray said. "I cannot walk away and do nothing.”
Mr. Ney said: ”I think as a Christian country, we need to feel toward the President some sympathy for the situation that he is in.” But he said that "with no malice towards the President of the United States” he was going to vote for impeachment because Mr. Clinton had "shattered the trust of the American people by committing perjury, obstructing justice and corroding the rule of law.”
The White House did get one message of support today from Republicans. Representative Jay C. Kim of California, who pleaded guilty to accepting illegal donations in 1997, said he was leaning toward opposing impeachment. A Senate trial ”is going to be an international embarrassment,” Mr. Kim told The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in California.
Another Republican who could yet support Mr. Clinton is Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, who held a packed town meeting on impeachment on Tuesday night. The White House postponed a meeting it had scheduled with him to discuss his position.
Before the impeachment debate became interwoven with the Iraq actions, the battle lines seemed to be forming for how the two parties were going to fight on after the House vote on impeachment.
Vice President Al Gore, who canceled a trip to New Hampshire to stay in Washington, began sounding what is expected to be the White House theme in the weeks ahead--that Republicans were embarked on a partisan, divisive course. "I believe on Capitol Hill there is still time for Democrats and Republicans to come together and embrace a bipartisan compromise to seek a resolution that is both quick and fair and try to turn away from the bitter partisanship that we have seen so far,” he said.
Representative Michael Pappas, one of the lame-duck members of Congress, who put his support behind impeachment today by contrast renewed the call for Mr. Clinton to resign. "His actions were the cause that brought us to this point,” Mr. Pappas said. ”He can resign and keep us from having to move forward to go to the time and expense and diversion this would cause the Congress or the Senate.”
Much of the party divisions of the day concerned whether impeachment should go forward along with the bombing. "I don’t like the idea that Congress is supposed to shut down and not proceed with its obligations every time some dictator jerks our chain ,” said Representative James E. Rogan, a California Democrat. Representative Gerald B. H. Solomon accused the President of a ruse.
It will specify that Mr. Clinton lied under oath about his relationship with Monica S. Lewinsky, require him to pay a fine of $500,000, deny him the opportunity to deliver the State of the Union address in person, bar him from fund-raising and keep him from holding future office.
Mr. Houghton said he presented the proposal to Mr. Clinton in an Oval Office meeting and the President did not reject it, though he did not agree with all of it.
But Mr. Livingston has said a censure resolution will not be considered in the House. And several Republicans said today’s military action had only hardened the resolve in their party to impeach.
"If anything, suspicions around the timing of the action in Iraq has solidified support against the President,” said Representative Spencer Bachus, an Alabama Republican.
The Democrats, who are almost united against impeachment, rallied behind the President. Some even called for impeachment to be put off into the next Congress, when the Democrats will have five more seats and Mr. Clinton might have more of a chance of avoiding being only the second President impeached by the House.
‘‘I don’t understand why this can’t go over to the next Congress,” said Representative Henry A. Waxman, a California Democrat.
Representative Richard A. Gephardt, the House minority leader, said, "There was a unanimous feeling in our caucus that it should not come up as long as our troops are in harm’s way."
But Representative Dick Armey of Texas, the House majority leader, said the fact that Republicans had doubts about the legitimacy of the military action showed that Mr. Clinton was losing his ability to lead. ‘‘If the President refuses to resign for the sake of the nation, I believe he should be impeached and face Senate trial.”
Both political parties went straight from their respective meetings to the House floor for a briefing by the President’s entire national security team. The departing Speaker, Newt Gingrich, worked with Cabinet officials to organize that session while Mr. Livingston helped conduct the Republican caucus on impeachment.
At the White House, Mr. Lockhart, dismissed any suggestion that Clinton was using his powers as Commander in Chief to avoid becoming the first President to be impeached since Andrew Johnson 130 years ago.
Though most polls show that most Americans oppose impeachment, it was unclear if and how the bombing strikes would affect public opinion.
Throughout the extraordinary day, Republicans tried to assure the nation of the stability of foreign policy even as one after another they announced their decisions to vote for the President’s impeachment. "I am comforted by the fact that the President is in contact with the bipartisan leadership,” said Representative Sherwood Boehlert, a New York Republican, as he announced that he had decided to vote for impeachment.
"This has been by far the most difficult, even tormenting decision I have had to make in my 16 years in Congress,” Mr. Boehlert said speaking softly before television cameras. "I simply have not found the means to rationalize away the fact that our President lied under oath, that he has tried repeatedly to game the judicial system.”
Other Republicans spoke in similar uncompromising terms. "I get the impression that the President considers himself above the law,” said Representative John E. Porter, an Illinois Republican who had once said he would oppose impeachment, but now said he would support it on the House floor....
The others who came out against Mr. Clinton made up a roster of Republicans he had hoped to sway, including Brian P. Bilbray of California, Jim Leach of Iowa and Bob Ney of Ohio.
In San Diego, as he headed for Washington, Mr. Bilbray said he had ”very, very frank” discussions with White House staff on Tuesday night and ultimately concluded he had to vote for impeachment.
"I cannot as a man, husband, elected official or a father say that the President did not commit perjury,” Mr. Bilbray said. "I cannot walk away and do nothing.”
Mr. Ney said: ”I think as a Christian country, we need to feel toward the President some sympathy for the situation that he is in.” But he said that "with no malice towards the President of the United States” he was going to vote for impeachment because Mr. Clinton had "shattered the trust of the American people by committing perjury, obstructing justice and corroding the rule of law.”
The White House did get one message of support today from Republicans. Representative Jay C. Kim of California, who pleaded guilty to accepting illegal donations in 1997, said he was leaning toward opposing impeachment. A Senate trial ”is going to be an international embarrassment,” Mr. Kim told The Inland Valley Daily Bulletin in California.
Another Republican who could yet support Mr. Clinton is Representative Christopher Shays of Connecticut, who held a packed town meeting on impeachment on Tuesday night. The White House postponed a meeting it had scheduled with him to discuss his position.
Before the impeachment debate became interwoven with the Iraq actions, the battle lines seemed to be forming for how the two parties were going to fight on after the House vote on impeachment.
Vice President Al Gore, who canceled a trip to New Hampshire to stay in Washington, began sounding what is expected to be the White House theme in the weeks ahead--that Republicans were embarked on a partisan, divisive course. "I believe on Capitol Hill there is still time for Democrats and Republicans to come together and embrace a bipartisan compromise to seek a resolution that is both quick and fair and try to turn away from the bitter partisanship that we have seen so far,” he said.
Representative Michael Pappas, one of the lame-duck members of Congress, who put his support behind impeachment today by contrast renewed the call for Mr. Clinton to resign. "His actions were the cause that brought us to this point,” Mr. Pappas said. ”He can resign and keep us from having to move forward to go to the time and expense and diversion this would cause the Congress or the Senate.”
Much of the party divisions of the day concerned whether impeachment should go forward along with the bombing. "I don’t like the idea that Congress is supposed to shut down and not proceed with its obligations every time some dictator jerks our chain ,” said Representative James E. Rogan, a California Democrat. Representative Gerald B. H. Solomon accused the President of a ruse.
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“A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 1 of the National edition.”
“A version of this article appears in print on , Section A, Page 1 of the National edition.”
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