House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, a Maryland Democrat, and Minority Whip Steve Scalise spent more than an hour on the House floor Friday afternoon engaged in a spirited debate over the House impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump. The two lawmakers meet on the floor weekly to discuss their caucuses’ legislative agenda. Friday’s exchange was a stark departure from the more congenial tone in their fly-out day conversations.The verbose back-and-forth between the senior congressmen began with a question from Scalise, a Louisiana Republican, on the process for impeachment. The conversation then turned to cover a wide range of arguments on impeachment in the House including: [7:45] Process and rules of the impeachment inquiry[13:17] Rep. Devin Nunes, the top Republican on the House Intelligence Committee[16:02] Foreign interference in U.S. elections[23:42] The Mueller report[28:50] Trump’s call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy[31:50] Russia, Iran and Syria[36:10] Historical precedent[42:27] The Bidens[45:20] White House Acting Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney[51:34] Legislative gridlock in the Senate[57:10] Government shutdownFrustrations, toward the end of the hour, cleared and both agreed to disagree. Scalise concluded the conversation with a call for talks on the issue between congressional leaders.[jwp-video n="1"]
