Pelosi pledges to force a vote if GOP won't move forward on independent Trump-Russia commission

Nancy Pelosi put Paul Ryan on notice Wednesday. She didn’t just call on him to support a bill to create an independent commission to investigate Trump-Russia connections, she made a very specific threat if Ryan does not allow a vote on the bill:

Speaker Ryan must call up this legislation immediately upon our return next week. If Republicans continue to work to hide the truth from the American people, it will be necessary for Democrats to file a discharge petition to force a vote on the Swalwell-Cummings measure.

If successful, a discharge petition would get a vote on the independent commission legislation without Ryan’s cooperation. And if not successful, it would pinpoint individual Republicans who refused to consider the issue, without the option of hiding behind Ryan’s refusal to allow a vote.

Pelosi says that “if Republicans continue to work to hide the truth from the American people, it will be necessary.” There needs to be a tight deadline on that—like immediately. If Ryan doesn’t take action on the House’s first day back, Democrats should start the discharge petition process. We can’t afford for them to wait around giving Republicans any more chances to do the right thing.