STALL OVER NOW
Vote today to send Senate impeach
After stalling for nearly a month, Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Tuesday that the House of Representatives would vote Wednesday on sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate, where Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he would begin President Trump’s trial next week.
“We believe iff that happens, in all likelihood we’ll go through some preliminary steps this week, which would set us up to begin the actual trial next Tuesday,” McConnell said, noting Chief Justice John Roberts would have to swear in senators.
Pelosi said that the Democratic-majority House also would take up a resolution to appoint impeachment managers who would prosecute their case against the president.
Rep. Jerrold Nadler, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, and Rep. Adam Schiff, who chairs the Intelligence Committee, are likely choices because they played prominent roles in the House impeachment process.
Pelosi isn’t expected to reveal the managers until Wednesday.
White House counsel Pat Cipollone and Jay Sekulow, Trump’s personal lawyer, will head up the president’s defense.
Pelosi, who has been holding up the articles passed by the House on Dec. 18 in attempt to pressure McConnell to announce the framework of how a trial would proceed, warned Republicans against failing to call witnesses and voting for dismissal.
“The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial,” Pelosi said in a statement. “The President and the Senators will be held accountable.”
But McConnell said there is “little or no sentiment in the Republican conference for a motion to dismiss.”
“Our members feel that we have an obligation to listen to the arguments,” McConnell told reporters.
He also said the Senate would deal with calling witnesses as the trial proceeds and that Democrats and Republicans would have their own lists of whom they’d want to appear.
Speaking on the Senate floor, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said if McConnell refuses to allow witnesses to testify or produce documents, the trial would be a “coverup.”
The motions to dismiss or call witnesses would require 51 votes, and Republicans, who hold a 53-47 majority, appear to be falling short of that number.
Maine Sen. Susan Collins has been rallying other Republican colleagues to ensure that witnesses are called.