Nancy Pelosi said Friday she plans to send impeachment on to
the Senate next week, a move that would break a stalemate with Republican
defenders of President Trump.
The powerful House Speaker told Democratic colleagues that she has asked Rep. Jerry Nadler (D-Manhattan) to prepare a resolution to appoint managers for the Senate trial and officially transmit the articles of impeachment to the upper chamber.
If that happens, it would effectively hand over the Trump
case to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who has the votes to pass rules
for an impeachment trial that would not necessarily include any witnesses.
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| Nancy Pelosi |
“Every senator now faces a choice: to be loyal to the
president or the Constitution,” Pelosi said.
Until now, Pelosi had refused to say when she would move on
impeachment and had suggested she wouldn’t do anything until McConnell reveals
more details about his plans for a trial. The Senate leader has made no such
concessions so far.
Another option that Pelosi has apparently decided not to
pursue would have been to issue a subpoena for bombshell witness John Bolton to
testify in the House and delay sending impeachment to the Senate until hearing
from him.
McConnell says the Senate would hear opening arguments from
both sides and have questions from lawmakers in an initial phase. Only after
that would a vote be taken on whether to hear from witnesses.
Democrats plan to push to subpoena Bolton, the fired
national security adviser, and other Trump aides like Chief of Staff Mick
Mulvaney, who have firsthand information about Trump’s alleged misdeeds in the
Ukraine scandal. Trump and some of his hardcore supporters have suggested
calling Joe Biden and his son, Hunter, whom they say improperly got a sweet
deal at a Ukrainian gas firm, along with the intelligence whistleblower whose
complaint blew the lid off the scandal.
McConnell will likely seek to wrap up the trial with a quick
vote to acquit Trump without any witnesses.
Pelosi’s decision will apparently shift the spotlight to the Senate where Minority Leader Chuck Schumer will seek to thwart McConnell’s plans to clear Trump as soon as possible. That will be a tall order since the GOP holds a 53-47 edge in the chamber and even a few independent minded Republicans are wary of irking Trump.
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