IMPEACHMENT LIKELY IN SENATE’S HANDS TODAY
WASHINGTON — The U.S. House is set to vote Wednesday to send the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate for a landmark trial on whether the charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress are grounds for removal.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced the next steps after meeting privately with House Democrats at the Capitol, ending her blockade Tuesday a month after they voted to impeach Trump.
“The president and the Sena- tors will be held accountable,” Pelosi said in a statement. “The American people deserve the truth, and the Constitution demands a trial.”
The Senate is expected to transform into an impeachment court as early as Thursday. The Constitution calls for the chief justice to preside over senators, who serve as jurors, to swear an oath to deliver “impartial justice.” The House managers will walk the articles across the Capitol in a dramatic procession Wednesday evening after the midday vote.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday the chief justice would open the trial this week but that the significant proceedings would launch Tuesday, after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.
McConnell met behind closed doors Tuesday with GOP senators who are under pressure from Democrats to call new witnesses and testimony.
McConnell, who is negotiating rules for the trial proceedings, said all 53 GOP senators are on board with his plan to start the session and consider the issue of witnesses later.
Senate Republicans also signaled they would reject the idea of simply voting to dismiss the articles of impeachment against Trump, as the president has suggested. McConnell agreed he does not have the votes to do that.
“There is little or no sentiment in the Republican conference for a motion to dismiss,” McConnell said. “Our members feel we have an obligation to listen to the arguments.”