Democrats are using just about every word they can to slam President Donald Trump’s blanket refusal of requests for testimony and documents related to special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.

After the Department of Justice refused to hand over the unredacted report on Wednesday, House Judiciary Chairman Jerry Nadler (D-N.Y.) said Trump’s “dangerous” and “lawless” assertion of executive privilege had triggered a “constitutional crisis.” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) agreed, saying on Thursday that the administration “has decided they are not going to honor their oath of office.” She even suggesting jailing officials for failing to cooperate with subpoenas.

House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.), meanwhile, said the situation “is bigger than Watergate” in a Thursday interview on MSNBC.

But as much as Pelosi and other top Democrats ratchet up the rhetoric ― railing against the unprecedented nature of a president bent on ignoring just about every means of congressional oversight ― they remain hesitant about actually opening impeachment proceedings, the most powerful tool at their disposal.

The incongruous message appears designed to contain anger among the Democratic base ahead of what is shaping up to be a contentious election in 2020, one in which talk of impeachment could backfire to the advantage of Trump and Republicans in the Senate.

Pelosi maintains that the country needs to be persuaded into impeachment. (and public opinion is on her side). But her true feelings on the matter are quite clear when she argues that Democrats don’t need to impeach Trump because he’s “almost self-impeaching,” as she remarked in an interview earlier this week.

“I think she knows this is a cul-de-sac that she doesn’t want to spend any time in,” said Brendan Buck, who served as a top aide to former House Speaker Paul Ryan (R-Wis.).

Buck added he was impressed with Pelosi’s discipline. “All it takes is really one overzealous member to go the floor and [impeachment] can be triggered. It’s important to make sure ... the entire caucus understands what’s at risk and what the strategy is.”

Democrats may not be able to sustain the delicate balancing act for long. On Thursday, a group of progressive advocacy organizations delivered over 10 million petition signatures to Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) urging the House to start impeachment proceedings against Trump.

Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), a 2020 presidential contender, also urged Democrats to impeach Trump from the floor of the Senate this week.

Other establishment-aligned Democrats argue that the party ought to at least begin by opening impeachment proceedings ― a process involving hearings that could take months ― without committing to an actual vote in the House.

“Oversight is the most important thing to do with an Administration that behaves criminally. If it takes an impeachment inquiry to actually conduct oversight, so be it. The House can always decide on an impeachment vote down the road after they’ve heard evidence,” Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden tweeted on Wednesday.