Thursday afternoon, before Congress broke for the weekend, the House Judiciary Committee took another step towards formal impeachment proceedings.

In a party-line vote, House Democrats approved certain guidelines when it came to the investigations and possible impeachment inquiry into the president.

• Impeachment Inquiry Against Trump Already Underway, Congressman Nadler Says

"The conduct under investigation poses a threat to our democracy," said Democratic New York Rep. Jerry Nadler, the committee's chairman. "We have an obligation to respond to this threat, and we are doing so."

Four criteria were approved, allowing the committee to designate which hearings were for "impeachment," allow staff attorneys to question witnesses, allow some evidence to remain private, and enable the president's attorneys to respond to any formal testimony.

Republicans in both chambers called the move a farce.

"Nothing we have here is anything that could not have been handled five minutes before hearing of any time that we have," House Judiciary Ranking Member Republican Georgia Rep. Doug Collins said.

Democrats are still having a tough time when it comes to the messaging on impeachment. There's growing pressure from not just the left-leaning flank of the party to impeach, there are also primary challenges from within their own party.

In New York alone, top Democrats, including Jerry Nadler, are facing primary opponents accusing them of not being tough enough on President Donald Trump.

• Even In Deep-Blue NYC, Not All House Democrats Favor Impeachment Inquiry

In an effort to appease as wide a swath of voters as possible, the incumbents have come out either more forcefully on seeking impeachment or, in Nadler's case, following strong words with action.

"With these new procedures, we will begin next week an aggressive series of hearings, investigating allegations of corruption, obstruction, and abuse of power against the president," Nadler said.

But whatever Democrats decide to do, time is running out, as the risk of running an impeachment inquiry during 2020 could backfire and turn into in re-election for the president.

"Impeachment is a very divisive measure, but if we'll have to go there, we'll have to go there," House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said. "But we can't go there unless we have the facts."