House set to vote on sending articles
Trial managers also to be named Wednesday
WASHINGTON – The House will vote Wednesday on a resolution to send the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate for trial, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced in a meeting with Democrats, and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the trial is likely to begin Tuesday.
The Democratic Caucus meeting came after Pelosi said Friday she will send the articles to the Senate to decide whether to convict Trump and remove him from office. She also asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerrold Nadler, D-N.Y., to prepare a resolution that would authorize and appoint the House lawmakers, called managers, who will prosecute the case during the Senate trial, although she didn’t name managers during the meeting.
“The House will now proceed with a vote on transmitting the articles of impeachment and naming impeachment managers on Wednesday,” said Pelosi, D-Calif. “The president and the senators will be held accountable.”
Majority Leader Steny Hoyer,
D-Md., said the vote on the resolution would happen in the afternoon and take only 10 minutes, with each side given five minutes for debate. The precise timing hasn’t been set, he said.
The formal procession across the Capitol from the House to the Senate to deliver the articles could happen after the vote or occur Thursday morning, Hoyer said.
McConnell, R-Ky., said the Senate will likely take up “housekeeping” measures on the trial this week, possibly including swearing in senators and bringing over Chief Justice John Roberts to preside.
Pelosi has delayed sending the articles, after the House impeached Trump on Dec. 18, in order to learn more about how the trial would be conducted, such as whether witnesses would be called.
Lawmakers who are thought to be on Pelosi’s short list – members of the Judiciary and Intelligence committees – have declined to say whether she has offered them the position or whether they’ve even spoken about it with her.
As the names remained secret, lawmakers leaving the meeting said they expect the managers to be deeply familiar with the details of the House case, to be knowledgeable about the law and to offer diversity in skills, background and race.
Rep. Mary Gay Scanlon, D-Pa., who as vice chairman of the Judiciary Committee is one of the lawmakers who could be tapped, called it “the biggest guessing game on Capitol Hill,” one that she and others wish they could take bets on.
Senators of both parties have voiced frustration with the delay. McConnell said he wouldn’t haggle with the House over trial procedures in what he called Pelosi’s “one-woman blockade.”
“The president’s opponents are afraid of having the Senate judge the case they actually are going to send us,” McConnell said Monday from the Senate floor. “They are afraid of having the Senate judge the case they themselves voted on. That alone speaks volumes.”
The articles accuse Trump of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, but the president has said he expects to be exonerated in the Senate trial. A twothirds majority would be required to convict Trump and remove him from office, which is considered unlikely in a Senate where Republicans outnumber Democrats 53 to 47.
A major sticking point between Republicans and Democrats has been over whether witnesses will be allowed to testify during the Senate trial. Democrats have argued the trial should include witnesses who didn’t testify during the House inquiry. But McConnell has said he has the votes to begin the trial without deciding on whether to call witnesses until after both sides have presented opening statements.
Former national security adviser John Bolton, who declined an invitation to testify in the House inquiry, said Jan. 6 he is prepared to testify under subpoena in the Senate trial. Pelosi has said Bolton’s offer and other factors justified the delay in sending the articles to the Senate.
“Leader McConnell’s tactics are a clear indication of the fear that he and President Trump have regarding the facts of the President’s violations for which he was impeached,” Pelosi said.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has urged testimony from four witnesses, including Bolton and acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney. Democrats need at least four Republicans to join them to reach a majority of 51 senators to approve subpoenas for witnesses and documents, and a handful of Republicans have said they are open to hearing from witnesses after the opening statements.
Trump has said he might block Bolton’s testimony under executive privilege, to protect the confidentiality of advice that presidents get from top aides.
The House accused Trump of abusing the power of his office by asking Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to investigate his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, withholding a White House meeting and $391 million in military aid. The House also accused Trump of obstructing Congress by directing aides and agencies to defy subpoenas for documents and testimony, although some officials did testify.
Trump and congressional Republicans have argued he has the authority to set foreign policy and was justified in fighting corruption in Ukraine. Trump has said he expects to be exonerated in the Senate trial.