Image by Claudio Papapietro

By Aiden Pink November 7, 2018

With Democrats grabbing control of the House of Representatives, Rep. Jerry Nadler will become the chairman of the Judiciary Committee — and could preside over impeachment proceedings against President Trump.

Several other Jewish memebers of Congress are expected to take over key committees such as foreign affairs and the panel that allocates spending.

Democrats rode a big #BlueWave to victory in the House, even as Republicans picked up seats in the Senate.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

It’s unclear whether Democrats are going to have the political stomach to mount the divisive fight of pushing for impeachment, especially with little or no chance of unseating him with a two-thirds vote in the Senate.

Nadler has been highly critical of the conduct of Trump and his staff (including senior advisor/son-in-law Jared Kushner). But last year, he urged Democrats last year to hold off the impeachment process.

Nadler told Politico last year that those pushing for expelling Trump need to make sure they persuade at least some of his supporters.

“If you are actually going to remove a president from office, you are in effect nullifying the last election. Certainly the people who voted for him will think you’re nullifying the election,” Nadler said. “It’s OK to do that. It may be necessary to do that — as long as you have persuaded a sufficient fraction of the president’s former supporters, the people who voted for him, that you have to, that it’s necessary.”

But by May, Nadler said that Trump was starting to act guilty. He told WNYC that the president’s criticisms of special counsel Robert Mueller were “another act in an ongoing obstruction of justice. It’s not only an intimidation, but this is going off on a complete tangent.”

A number of members of Congress have already filed articles of impeachment against Trump. The first to do so was Rep. Brad Sherman, who represents Los Angeles areas like Sherman Oaks and Northridge.

In addition to Nadler’s promotion, there are several other Jewish Democratic members of Congress who will also rise to control important committees.

Prominent Trump critic Adam Schiff, also from Southern California, will run the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence; Nita Lowey of New York’s Rockland County will chair the Appropriations Committee, the powerful body that regulates where and how government money is spent; Elliot Engel of the Bronx and Westchester County will control the Foreign Relations Committee; John Yarmuth of Kentucky will take charge of the Budget Committee; and Ted Deutch of South Florida will lead the Ethics Committee.

Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount