McConnell: Senate won't take up impeachment trial before Christmas
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday that the Senate would not hold an impeachment trial before the Christmas recess, despite a push from the White House for the chamber to take it up immediately.
“What is not possible, obviously, would be to turn to an impeachment trial or to do [the U.S.-Mexico-Canada agreement] in the Senate before we break for Christmas,” McConnell told reporters, outlining the Senate’s agenda for the rest of the year.
McConnell’s comments come after senators from both parties said Monday that they did not plan to spend the holidays in Washington by taking up impeachment immediately. House Democrats on Tuesday released articles of impeachment, alleging President Donald Trump abused his power by pressuring the Ukrainian government to investigate his political rivals. The House is expected to pass articles of impeachment next week, paving the way for the Senate to take up the impeachment trial.
McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer have yet to negotiate an agreement that would govern the impeachment trial. Schumer said Tuesday he is willing to speak to McConnell “as soon as he’s ready.”
McConnell said Tuesday that he would expect House impeachment managers to present their argument for why the Senate should convict Trump and the president’s lawyers would then respond with their defense. After that, the Senate will have two choices, McConnell outlined.
“It could go down the path of calling witnesses and basically having another trial, or it could decide — and again 51 members could make that decision — that they’ve heard enough and believe they know what would happen and could move to vote on the two articles of impeachment,” McConnell said.
The Kentucky Republican reiterated that he would be surprised if there were 67 senators — the two-thirds majority needed to remove the president from office — that would vote to oust the president.
While much of the process has yet to be determined, one outstanding question is whether senators running for president will return from the campaign trail for the full impeachment trial. Schumer emphasized Tuesday that the trial should be a priority.
“This has to come first,” he said. “This is one of the most solemn decisions that anyone has to make, and I’ve told all members of my caucus that scheduling concerns are secondary to doing this the right way.”
It's unclear when the Senate will return in January. The Senate calendar for 2020 leaves the entire month of January blank — an ominous sign that the trial could consume the entire month.
McConnell didn't offer a date for the Senate's return but said "it'll be right around the time the bowl games end."
