House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has found a new way to satisfy the most liberal faction within her caucus and the Democratic base while pushing off impeachment of President Trump – for now.

Rather than jump into an impeachment inquiry, which lawmakers such as Colorado U.S. Reps. Diana DeGette and Joe Neguse clamored for after special counsel Robert Mueller’s recent public statement about his collusion investigation, Pelosi has instructed Democrats to lay out their case against the president in a string of hearings.

Calling impeachment “an indictment” that many in the public misunderstand, Pelosi, D-California, explained the House should ?rst hold hearings and contempt votes before proceeding with the ultimate effort to punish the president.

She pointed out many in the public don’t realize that the Democratic-led House cannot eject a president. If impeached by the House, the president’s fate would rest with the Republican-led Senate, which in this instance would never vote to throw Trump out of the White House.

“So when you are impeaching somebody, you want to make sure you have the strongest possible indictment,” Pelosi said, explaining the path House Democrats plan to follow. “Because it’s not the means to an end that people think.”

Democrats who have urged Pelosi to agree to launch an impeachment inquiry seem satis?ed with this approach, though they would still prefer to start the impeachment inquiry now.

Several liberal lawmakers said Pelosi has convinced them to wait.

“We are still doing what we wanted to do in the very beginning and that’s to make sure that the public has as much information as they possibly can, and we continue to lay out a case for impeachment proceedings,” said Rep. Val Demings, D-Florida.

Democrats will begin a series of hearings meant to highlight their belief that the president committed a crime by attempting to obstruct the Mueller inves- tigation.

Democrats are still chasing their star witness, but Mueller is resisting a request to testify publicly. He said in a public statement last month that he won’t say anything beyond what he outlined in the report, which cleared Trump of colluding with Russians but left open whether the president tried to obstruct the investigation.

Party leaders, including Pelosi, say a House panel may subpoena Mueller. Democrats believe he can tell them more about examples of obstruction outlined in the report, which could be used to make the case for impeachment.

“His report may speak for itself in one sense, but having an individual as awitness subject to question is a very, very important aspect of fact-?nding,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Maryland.