Freshman Rep. Katie Hill, (D-Aqua Dulce) says that if her party is to accomplish anything, it must focus on issues such as health care and income inequality rather than on impeaching President Trump.
Hill said, "That's part of our failure over the last several years...we have allowed (the president) to set the agenda rather than being proactive."
Hill says impeachment should result only after "clear and convincing" evidence of wrongdoing from the Robert Muller investigation. "Impeachment won't go anywhere unless you have some Republicans on board...willing to say 'This guy has to be gone.'"
Hill made the comments Sunday on NBC4's "News Conference" program.
Hill also took issue with some of the stated goals of the more progressive members of her party including fellow Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who has suggested a 70 percent tax margin on the very wealthy.
"I think there are phrases that are exciting to a certain group within the Democratic Party but scare the crap out of other people," Hill said.
The congresswoman continued, "My district has a large number of Independents, if you say anything about a 70 percent tax rate, you lose people right away."
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Ocasio-Cortez has also been part of a group called "Justice Democrats" who have advocated trying to deflate moderate Democrats in primaries in 2020. Hill says such efforts would be "dangerous" in that they could divert the party from the ultimate goal of winning the Senate and the White House.
"It should not be on primarying Democrats who vote the right way most of the time," she said.
The two young Democrats have teamed together on other issues in the first few weeks of the new term. Last week, Hill and Ocasio-Cortez visited the office of Senate leader Mitch McConnell to demand he allow a vote on legislation that would re-open the federal government.
