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Photo of President Donald Trump by Jonathan Ernst/Reuters

WASHINGTON House Democrats distanced themselves on Tuesday from a longshot bid to impeach President Donald Trump, arguing that multiple investigations should to play out before considering such drastic, politically fraught action.

California Rep. Brad Sherman has told colleagues that he may try to force a vote in the full House if the Judiciary Committee declines to consider a proposed article of impeachment that hes still finalizing.

Shermans proposal, circulated to colleagues along with a letter, states that the president sought to hinder and stop federal investigations by threatening and then terminating James Comey, the ousted FBI director.

The evidence we have is sufficient to move forward now. And the national interest requires that we do so, Sherman said in his letter.

Sherman said hes getting suggestions from colleagues now on how to improve his proposal. He said about a dozen lawmakers have told him theyre supportive of his effort.

But numerous Democrats emerged from a close-door caucus meeting Tuesday opposed, including some of Trumps harshest critics.

Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky said more time is needed so that people can decide whether there have been impeachable offenses.

Democratic leaders recognize that any talk of impeachment energizes the Republican base, and that could undercut Democrats hoping for significant gains in next years midterm elections.

My concern is this: If we dont allow the discovery of and unwinding of all this so that people come to their own conclusions that there have been impeachable offenses, Republicans will just accuse Democrats of trying to rig the system: Couldnt win the election outright, so they want to manipulate the process,' Schakowsky said. That wont be helpful for our country. It certainly wont be helpful for the Democratic Party.

Democratic leaders recognize that any talk of impeachment energizes the Republican base, and that could undercut Democrats hoping for significant gains in next years midterm elections.

Its a little early. We all know that, said Rep. John Conyers, the ranking Democrat on the Judiciary Committee.

We believe strongly that a discussion about impeachment is not timely until the facts are fully garnered, said Minority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md.

Shermans efforts come after Comey appeared before a Senate panel last week to answer questions about his May 9 firing and other matters. Comey said it was his judgment that he was fired because of the Russia investigation, but he also refused to say whether he thinks Trump broke the law. Sherman said Comeys testimony was a turning point for him.

Obstruction was an article of impeachment against President Richard Nixon before he resigned and was one of the counts on which the House impeached President Bill Clinton, who was later acquitted by the Senate.

Sherman said hes under no illusion that his article of impeachment would pass, but we want to move the ball forward one step.

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Democrats try to distance themselves from call for Trump's impeachment - PBS NewsHour

President Trump on June 13 said Republican efforts to overhaul the U.S. health-care system will result in a "phenomenal bill" and "fantastic" outcome. Trump was hosting several Republican senators at the White House. (The Washington Post)

President Trump met with Senate Republicans on Tuesday at the White House, and although the meeting and short media appearance were ostensibly to talk about Senate efforts to craft health-care legislation, Trump couldn't resist taking a few digs at Democrats.

Then he endorsed what he called their new motto.

You have the Democrats on the other side, who truly have become obstructionists, he said. Even their new motto, 'resist,' and I guess it's a pretty accurate motto. Every time I see it, I say, that's right! That does represent the Democrats.

Trump has been making the argument for a while that the Democrats are obstructionists, although he seems to be using that specific word a lot this week (on Monday, he used the word obstructionist to describe Democrats at a Cabinet meeting, and press secretary Sean Spicer repeated it at his daily briefing). He's taking this approach even though Republicans have majorities in both houses of Congress.

It's not entirely accurate to call resist a motto simply for Democrats. It has been used broadly by liberals, and not just liberals in the United States, and it's most closely associated with Greenpeace activists. Remember, just a few days after Trump's inauguration, Greenpeace activists hung a resist banner from a crane in downtown Washington.

Outside the United States, Greenpeace activists who oppose far-right French politician Marine Le Pen unfurled a resist banner on the Eiffel Tower in the run-up to last month's French elections. Another group, also affiliated with Greenpace, unfurled a similar banner in May 25 at the U.S. Embassy in Brussels.

But it has become a sort of rallying cry for anti-Trump forces in the United States, and liberals around the world. Beyond being used by environmental activists, it has become a go-to phrase for LGBTQ activists, and this year's Pride parade in Los Angeles was renamed the Resist March.

Resist has made appearances in Washington, too. It appeared on an apartment building as residents fought a sort of political banner proxy war on their balconies in April.

In endorsing resist as a motto, Trump seems to be missing a bit of the point that those who resist are resisting him personally, and seek to resist him in ways that go way beyond partisanship in Congress. And at the same time, Democrats are probably just fine with being labeled as obstructionists who won't go along with his agenda.

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Trump endorses 'resist' as a motto for Democrats - Washington Post

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Bernie Sanders: How Democrats Can Stop Losing Elections New York Times In 2016, the Democratic Party lost the presidency to possibly the least popular candidate in American history. In recent years, Democrats have also lost the Senate and House to right-wing Republicans whose extremist agenda is far removed from where ... Bernie Sanders's Army Is Not the Democratic BaseNew Republic all 8 news articles »

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Bernie Sanders: How Democrats Can Stop Losing Elections - New York Times

The Senate Rules Committee is exerting more control, and reporters and Democratic senators are worried about restricted press access.

The Senate Rules Committee is stepping up oversight of the number of TV cameras in the halls of the Capitol, and media outlets and Democratic senators are worried about press access.

Reporters tweeted on Tuesday that a new rule in the Senate will call for reporters to get approval before filming interviews with senators in hallways, a fixture of the fast-paced media environment on Capitol Hill. Reporters regularly grab senators for quick comment as they walk between meetings and hearings.

A source from the Senate Rules Committee, which made the directive, said that the change was not an effort to hinder press access, but that the committee wants to gather interview requests so that the Senate Radio & Television Correspondents Gallery which organizes media access in the Capitol can audit the approval process.

Sen. Richard Shelby, a Republican who chairs the Rules Committee, said in a statement that the committee had not made changes to the existing rules. A spokesperson for Shelby told BuzzFeed News that reporters should operate as normal as the committee reviews the rules.

There have been complaints about the hectic media frenzy in the Capitol recently, with reporters and members of Congress stuffed shoulder to shoulder in the halls.

But reporters and some Democratic senators are arguing that forcing reporters to get approval for every interview would seriously obstruct news outlets' abilities to report from Capitol Hill, and relay information to the public.

Minnesota Sen. Amy Klobuchar, the top Democrat on the Rules Committee, tweeted calling on the majority to "allow reporting in the Capitol to proceed as usual."

Other Democratic senators accused Republicans of trying to skirt transparency, especially in the midst of the debate over repealing Obamacare.

Republican Sen. Bob Corker told reporters that his office was inquiring as to the exact nature of the rule. On the optics of the move, which coincides with senators putting together their own health care bill behind closed doors, he said "I understand in tandem it's maybe not so good."

But, he said, "As you know I'm always happy to talk to y'all."

Klobuchar later tweeted that she had spoken with Chair Shelby, who "said he wouldn't move forward on change to press access without consulting" her. "We must hold him to it," she said.

Sen. Tim Scott suggested one justification for cracking down on TV cameras was that they could catch the PINs of senators using ATMs.

But North Carolina Sen. Richard Burr, chair of the intelligence committee, shut down the idea that the change had anything to do with reporters speaking with him at an ATM on the day James Comey testified before his committee.

Asked about the new rules, he said, "I don't know what they are, what are they?"

"I don't have a concern," he said, when asked about talk that Republican senators' concerns about the press had prompted the changes.

"It's not coming from me," he said.

Alexis Levinson, Emma Loop, and Paul McLeod contributed reporting.

Steven Perlberg is a media and politics reporter for BuzzFeed News and is based in New York. His PGP fingerprint is 0ACB FA3B AC49 D43C 79C4 8DE5 3C06 7521 F4EC 3AA5

Contact Steven Perlberg at steven.perlberg@buzzfeed.com.

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Democrats And Reporters Say The Senate Is Trying To Restrict Press Access - BuzzFeed News

Kim Weaver(Photo: Special to the Register)

Oh, how tempting it was to jump in and publicly ridicule and distance ones self from Kim Weaver. Plenty of observers did that after it was reported in April that the Democrat challenging the infamous Steve King in Iowas 4th congressional district had eight years ago done tarot card readings for pay.

She was accused onlineof exploiting defenseless people andwas urged to drop out of the race. Some people, calling her a liar and a shyster, asked herto take their names off her mailing list. Someone put King bumper stickers in her mailbox. And a For Sale sign mysteriously showed up infront of her house.

It got to the point where the extrovert didnt want to go to the grocery store and have to see people. Sheended up at the Sheldon hospital with gastritis. The doctor asked whether she had been under stress, and Weaver quipped, "Youre not from around here. (He wasnt.)

Andhere's the rub: She says 95 percent of the negativity came from Democrats. She even thinks a Democrat shared the information about her past with the press, she said in aninterview Monday.

I was surprised at how slanted it was, she said. All of a sudden, Im no longer a viable candidate.

Her second race against King had a promising start she raised more than $179,000 $144,000 more than Kingin the first three months of the year.

Maybe Im being idealistic, the 52-year-old Weaver wrotein Iowa Starting Line May 4, but I believe Iowans want to hear about issues that actually impact the lives of the people of this district. ... I want to expand access to education, not defund it. I want to strengthen Social Security, while Steve King wants to privatize it. I want to work towards Medicare-for-All and ensure that every Iowan has access to good and affordable healthcare; Steve King wants to 'rip it out by the roots...

But by June 3, she'dhad it. Referring tothreats and intimidation, among other things, she announced she was dropping out of the race.

Kim Weaver, Democratic candidate for Iowa's 4th Congressional District, tells Register reporters and editors about how her experience as an ombudsman has taught her to listen to all sides of an issue. The Register

What makes her especially indignantis, she said: Ive spent 20 years being an advocate. I risked my job to fight for seniors. But all that was forgottenbecause of some tarot card readings.

As someone who has visitedcard readers and astrologers, and has a friend who is one for some ofDes Moines' well-heeled,I wonder what all the fuss is about. It's fun, and there's no exploitation when you go in with eyes open. And yes, those doing it deserve compensation.

Raised in the Lutheran church,Weaver says she was always interested in spirituality and counted among her friends Wiccans, pagans and a Native American medicine man.Shedid online and phone readings for a couple of years, and hosted a podcast, charging $1.99 a minute and spendinghalf of thaton fees, she said.In recorded readings, she comes across as compassionate, even offering a womanwho feared her missing husband was deada free, in-depth reading off the air.

Yes, the 4th District is a conservative, conformist part of the state. But belief in the supernatural is hardly a freak event in areligious district. And isn't freedom of religion what everyone saysthey want?

People around the world have held office with far bigger scandals in their pasts:A Colorado state representative who boasted of performing an exorcism to make a lesbian straight; a former Toronto mayor elected to the City Council despite a crack cocaine addiction; a former porn star who served five years in Italys Parliament.

At worst, Weaver was naive not to have anticipated the responses. But she wasnt planning on running for office back in 2009. And thats the other thing.We want real people as representatives, not just those born into politics or privilege. Weaver has also been a single mother, suffered from postpartum depression and lost 130 pounds through gastric bypass surgery. Now, she says she's faced with the possible loss of her job at the state Long-Term Care Ombudsmansoffice.Sheworries, like countless other Americans, how shed afford her $1,200 health insurance premiums.

Currently on leave, she says her supervisor told her the agency's budget was being cut 12 percent as punishment for her candidacy. Thesupervisor has denied that. ButWeaver showed me a May 15 e-mail she says she wrotein response, saying howbad she felt ever since you told me it was my fault that the budget was cut the way it was. She saysthe boss never replied or denied it.

Kim Weaver, a Democrat running to unseat Iowa's longtime congressman from northwestern Iowa, charged up to $3.99 per minute for psychic readings and advised callers on romance, finances and careers. Wochit

She has found support from unexpected places. Hillary Clinton called with words of encouragement after she dropped out.Afew friends and co-workers have been stalwarts, especiallyClaire Celsi, a West Des Moines Democrat who challenged Republican Rep. Peter Cownie for his West Des Moines seat last year andmade a point of promoting other female Democraticcandidates.

But for the most part, other Democrats who should have stood up for Weaver andpushed back againstthose ridiculing herdid not. Instead of highlighting all she has done for real people compared with the bluster from King that passesfor action, they just chickened out.

Rekha Basuis an opinion columnist for The Des Moines Register. Contact:rbasu@dmreg.comFollow her on Twitter @RekhaBasu and atFacebook.com/ColumnistRekha. Her book, "Finding Her Voice:A collection of Des Moines Register columns about women's struggles and triumphs in the Midwest," is available at ShopDMRegister.com/FindingHerVoice

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Basu: King challenger Weaver says heat from fellow Democrats pushed her out of the race - DesMoinesRegister.com