WASHINGTON - Amid the growing power struggle between Congress and the White House, U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Houston, intends to press for legislation that could land a candidate or staff member in jail for five years for working with a foreign agent.

Democrats in Texas are debating how to proceed when Congress reconvenes next week after Easter recess, the first session since release of the Mueller report exonerating President Donald Trump of crimes in the Russian meddling in U.S. elections, but also raising red flags regarding Trump’s attempts to protect himself from the special counsel’s investigation.

Jackson Lee, a senior member of the House Judiciary Committee, is heeding the call by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., for her committee and several others to pursue investigations rather than move to impeachment proceedings. as some in her party want.

The White House refusal thus far to comply with subpoenas from Democratic-run House committees suggests the likelihood of a stormy spring on Capitol Hill.

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As of now, Jackson Lee and most Texas Democrats appear in sync with plans for a deliberate approach.

“I believe that we have no reason to politically rush toward any action and we have no reason not to pursue an action if the evidence is there,” she said.

Jackson Lee’s newly drafted Foreign Interference in American Elections Act of 2019 would require candidates or campaign aides to refuse assistance from any foreign government and to tell the FBI about such offers within 72 hours of being contacted. It would apply even to volunteers.

“Isn’t it interesting that the only crime that the special counsel had to address was the idea of criminal conspiracy,” she said. “If there was a law that says that if you did not report those contacts it was an act that warranted criminal penalties, he would have had a multitude of opportunities.”

Related: Trump sours on Mueller report after initial upbeat view

Jackson Lee’s approach differs from that of Houston Democrat Al Green, one of the early proponents in Congress for impeaching the president. Green asserted in an interview that impeachment is “all but inevitable now” given the Mueller report’s outline of efforts by Trump to influence the investigation into Russian meddling.

“If we don’t act, history will show that we allowed a president to be above the law. And only God knows what he’s going to do when he’s clearly convinced he’s above the law,” Green said.

Green said he sees consequences in waiting too long before taking up impeachment proceedings.

“I do think we can (investigate) to the extent that we will engage in what Dr. King called paralysis by analysis,” he said. “There were people who said, ‘It’s too early to impeach, let’s wait on the Mueller report.’ At some point there will be people saying, ‘It’s too late to impeach, let’s wait for the election.’”

Rep. Joaquin Castro, D-San Antonio, a member of the House Intelligence Committee, will be part of the panel’s ongoing effort to delve into foreign influence on the White House, including the question of whether the Russian government might have financial leverage over Trump or his family businesses.

Castro noted that in a conference call for Democrats hosted by Pelosi earlier this week stretching for nearly 90 minutes, Democrats offered opinions on how to proceed.

“Everyone takes the responsibility of investigating the president’s action very seriously. Everyone is sobered by the moment we are in and by the duty of this Congress to investigate and follow up on Bob Mueller’s report,” Castro said.

Rep. Lloyd Doggett, a senior Democrat whose district stretches from San Antonio to Austin, has been a leader in pressing for release of Trump’s tax returns, an effort that shows no signs of success so far.

Doggett accused Trump of “more obstruction” after the White House this week missed the Ways and Means Committee’s Tuesday deadline for turning over the tax information.

“President Trump and his enablers are simply engaged in obstructing the performance of a ministerial duty that the requested returns ‘shall’ be provided. They don’t get to pick and choose the laws with which they will comply,” Doggett said in a statement.

Rep. Sylvia Garcia, a first-term Democrat from Houston, said she has been on conference calls this week with other members of the House Judiciary Committee to discuss demands being made of administration employees and Trump allies. She noted her committee’s subpoena this week of former White House lawyer Donald McGahn, whose name appeared dozens of times in Mueller’s report, and the hope that Robert Mueller will testify in May.

“We need to continue with our subpoenas and we need to continue with our investigations and establish the facts using the Mueller report as a roadmap, if you will, and see where it takes it,” Garcia said.

“I have not decided (on impeachment) one way or the other. I’m one of those who wants to look at the whole enchilada and see where it takes us,” she said.

Houston Democrat Lizzie Fletcher referred to Mueller’s findings about possible obstruction of justice as “deeply, deeply troubling. And frankly, what we’ve seen in terms of the president’s response to the report and his instructions about not cooperating with congressional investigations is also deeply troubling.”

Fletcher, a member of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, noted that impeachment proceedings might “take up all the oxygen” at a time when matters significant to Houston, including Hurricane Harvey recovery and widening the Houston Ship Channel, could get attention in Congress.

Referring to impeachment, she said: “That question is on the table; that is part of the remedies available to Congress, and I don’t think we should rule out any remedies. I don’t think we have all the information we need to make a final decision.”