Political partisanship flared openly in the House Judiciary Committee last week, shaking the fragile facade of impartiality that had enhanced its impeachment inquiry. A surprisingly tough Chairman Peter Rodino pushed the committee into making critical procedural decisions that should ensure a July conclusion of its historic investigation of Richard Nixon's presidency.
Despite angry objections from most Republicans and a few Democrats, the committee set July 12 as the deadline for completing its questioning of a limited number of witnesses. It set July 15 as the date to begin debating and voting on...