McConnell and Pelosi give no signs of budging on impeachment
WASHINGTON — Congress opened the new year with the Senate deadlocked over President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, leaving the proceedings deeply in flux as Republicans refuse to bend to Democratic demands for new witnesses.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell showed no signs Friday of negotiating with the Democrats as he aims for Mr. Trump’s swift acquittal. At the same time, the Republican leader acknowledged the Senate cannot begin the historic undertaking until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delivers the articles of impeachment — which she is refusing to do until he provides details on the trial’s scope. Neither seems willing to budge.
“Their turn is over,” Mr. McConnell said about the Democratic-led House. “It’s the Senate’s turn now to render sober judgment as the framers intended.”
Ms. Pelosi responded that Mr. McConnell’s stance “made clear that he will feebly comply with President
Trump’s cover-up of his abuses of power and be an accomplice to that coverup.”
The House and Senate gaveled in for brief sessions Friday with the sudden crisis in the Middle East only adding to the uncertainty about how lawmakers will proceed with the impeachment trial, only the third in U.S. history.
Mr. Trump was impeached last month by the House on charges that he abused power and obstructed Congress in his dealings with Ukraine. Mr. Trump withheld nearly $400 million in military aid for Ukraine, an Eastern European ally that depends on U.S. support to counter Russia, after asking President Volodymyr Zelenskiy to publicly announce an investigation into Trump rival Joe Biden. The aid was ultimately released after Congress objected.
Democrats believe their demands for witnesses are bolstered by new reports about Mr. Trump’s decision to withhold the aid and unease among some GOP senators over the situation.
“The American people deserve the truth,” Ms. Pelosi said in a statement. “Every Senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the President or the Constitution.”
Mr. McConnell has said the trial should start and then senators can decide the scope. Acquittal seems likely in the Senate because Republicans hold a 53-47 seat majority, and it takes two thirds of the Senate to convict. But Mr. McConnell’s leverage is limited during the trial. Either side needs to reach just a 51-vote threshold to call witnesses or seek documents, which could politically test some senators.
The GOP leader did not defend or criticize the president’s actions toward Ukraine.
But he invoked the Founding Fathers’ vision of the slower-moving Senate as “an institution that could stop momentary hysteria and partisan passions.”
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer also drew on the founders to pressure Republican senators not to fall lockstep in line with Mr. Trump, as they typically do, but fulfill their role as jurors.
“The vital question, of whether or not we have a fair trial, ultimately rests with a majority of the senators in this chamber,” Mr. Schumer said. He is pressing to hear testimony from at least four new witnesses, all of whom refused to appear in the House proceedings before the House voted to impeach Mr. Trump last month.
Two Republican senators, Lisa Murkowski and Susan Collins, have indicated they were open to hearing from more witnesses and registered their concerns about Mr. McConnell’s claim that he was working closely with the White House on the format for the trial.
The witnesses that Senate Democrats want to call refused to testify in the House proceedings under orders from the White House.
They are Mr. Trump’s former national security adviser John Bolton, acting chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and two other officials who were directly involved with Mr. Trump’s decision to withhold the military assistance for Ukraine.