Democrat Jeff Van Drew to switch to Republicans over Trump impeachment
A Democratic US congressman who opposes moves to impeach Donald Trump will become a Republican as soon as this week.
A Democratic US congressman who opposes moves to impeach President Donald Trump will become a Republican as soon as this week.
Top house Republicans have been told of New Jersey congressman Jeff Van Drew’s decision, a Republican official said on Sunday.
The legislator had discussed switching parties in a meeting with Mr Trump at the White House on Friday, an administration official said.
Mr Van Drew is one of two Democrats who voted against setting up the impeachment inquiry in the US House of Representatives on October 31.
If he changes parties, it will be a sign of the strain the impeachment process is putting on moderate Democrats.
Mr Trump carried Mr Van Drew’s district in the 2016 presidential election and Democrats in similar districts face a deluge of Republican advertising attacks over impeachment and voters who are divided on the subject.
Democrats in the house have approved two charges against Mr Trump over his efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden.
Mr Trump is expected to become the third US president to be impeached when the Democratic-led house votes on the charges this week, setting up a trial in the Republican-controlled Senate.
Republicans have shown no signs of wanting to remove Mr Trump.
Reuters, AP
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