Some of the most fervent supporters for impeaching Donald Trump are going silent.
Democratic lawmakers who have long sought to force Trump from office came to grips with a harsh new reality on Monday after special counsel Robert Mueller shuttered his investigation without a single charge against the president.
The nearly two-year investigation had been Democrats' best hope at turning up incriminating evidence against Trump. But its abrupt end — with no new explosive accusations against the White House — has stifled the Democratic Party's pro-impeachment caucus for the near future.
"Whatever the bet was last week that the president wouldn't finish out his term, that bet is not as good this week," Rep. Brad Sherman (D-Calif.), who has twice filed articles of impeachment against the president, told POLITICO Monday night.
"Our best single source of game-changing revelations was the Mueller report, and according to Barr, there aren't any game-changing revelations in it," he said, referring to Attorney General William Barr's summary of Mueller's findings.
Sherman added: "On the legal side, I remain convinced."
Rep. Maxine Waters of California has been one of the most vocal Democrats on the issue, demanding Trump's impeachment since nearly the beginning of his presidency.
As chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee, Waters has launched her own probe into Trump's finances and business dealings with plans to look into potential wrongdoing at the Trump Foundation next.
But Waters adopted a notably restrained tone on Monday when responding to reporters about how the summary released over the weekend affects the political calculation around pursuing impeachment.
"I think we do nothing now but concentrate on getting the information, getting that report," Waters said. "[Impeachment has] never been discussed as a strategy for this caucus. It's only a few of us."
Democrats said the calculations could again change once they've seen the full Mueller report, which they've demanded access to within one week.
The leaders of the six House committees set that timeline on Monday night, giving the Department of Justice until April 2 to publicly release the full extent of Mueller's findings.
Privately, top Democrats said they were relieved that, at least for now, lawmakers insisting on Trump's removal from office were likely to be much less vocal, allowing the caucus to potentially turn the focus to its legislative agenda, something they've struggled with since taking over the House in January.
At a leadership meeting Monday night, Democratic leaders emphasized the need for lawmakers to highlight their loaded legislative schedule this week — from voting on a gender-pay bill to introducing sweeping health care legislation — and demonstrate that Democrats aren't consumed with the Mueller report.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has never been a fan of the impeachment process and has repeatedly urged her caucus to approach the issue with caution. Several Democrats said Monday they felt Pelosi's wary approach to the impeachment demands from her left flank was justified after the anticlimactic summary of Mueller's report.
"I think it's a vindication of Nancy Pelosi's caution and deliberative approach, that we need to proceed in a methodical way," said Rep. Ro Khanna of California, one of the caucus' most liberal members. "I think we need to have Mueller come and testify. It's an abuse of discretion for William Barr to try to make conclusions in two days that Bob Mueller was unwilling to make for two years."
Pelosi and other top Democrats have always said any impeachment effort would have to have not only bipartisan buy-in from Republicans but also support from the public. Senate Republicans made clear on Monday that post-Mueller, removing Trump from the White House was less likely than ever before.
"But it seems to me that we have seen no grounds, at all, for impeachment proceedings to be started by the House," Sen. Susan Collins, a moderate Republican from Maine, told POLITICO. "When even Speaker Pelosi says that it would not be the right route, I believe that puts it to rest regarding these allegations."
Several Democrats argued that the president had still committed impeachable offenses unrelated to the Russia investigation. They allege violations of the foreign emoluments clause related to Trump's business dealings, for example, as well as other abuses of power.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) confirmed to POLITICO on Monday night that she still intended to introduce a resolution backing impeachment within days. But she declined to comment further, with a staffer interjecting to keep Tlaib from providing more details.
Rep. Al Green (D-Texas), who had already said he would seek impeachment regardless of Mueller's findings, reiterated after Sunday's letter from Barr that his position had not changed.
"As long as bigotry influences the President's policies, I will continue to seek his impeachment," Green tweeted Sunday.
But several Democrats who have previously backed impeachment acknowledged that Barr's four-page letter had killed their chances politically, "at least for the very immediate moment," Rep. John Yarmuth of Kentucky said in an interview Monday night.
"The public would be much more skeptical of an impeachment effort at this time," Yarmuth said, though he added, "For me, it doesn't change it at all."
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