Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, slumped into a chair in a small office just outside the committee hearing room last week.
"I do not want this to be an exercise in futility," he said of his panel's inquiry into whether President Clinton should be impeached for perjury, obstruction of justice and abuse of power in the Monica Le-win-sky case.But increasingly, in the wake of Republican losses in the midterm elections and a growing GOP contingent for halting impeachment proceedings, the effort to remove Clinton from office for "high crimes and misdemeanors" appears to be headed toward just such an end. The GOP is clearly wavering. The polls are behind Clinton, against impeachment and for closure.
The president may indeed get off free, said Hyde.
Rep. Mark Souder, R-Ind., a conservative, said he would not vote for impeachment on the floor and believes that at least 20 GOP members, maybe even 30, will join him. Rep. Chris Shays, R-Conn., a moderate, also said the number of defections could be in the same range.
Rep. Bill Tauzin, R-La., another conservative, favors censure or some other milder form of punishment and believes that impeachment faces an uphill fight.
"I'd like to get it to the floor," Hyde said. "I think the whole House ought to have a chance to express themselves." He is not fond of the censure option and fears it may violate separation of powers clauses in the Constitution but doesn't foreclose a vote on it.
Hyde is waiting to see how the president responds to the toughly worded 81 questions that he dispatched to the White House more than a week ago, asking Clinton to admit or deny whether he lied under oath, deliberately misled the American people and tampered with witnesses.
Though the White House ridiculed some of the questions, they do present the president with a problem. He has to respond in some manner. If he doesn't answer them at all, his failure to cooperate could become a count in an article of impeachment.
Now, it appears, only Independent Counsel Kenneth Starr can resurrect the impeachment effort. He will be the first, and perhaps the only, major Republican witness to appear before the committee when he testifies Thursday.
Though Democrats are ready to pounce on Starr and question his motives and conduct of his investigation, Hyde and Judiciary Committee staff members believe that Starr will make a strong witness.