Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) suggested on Sunday morning that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell change the impeachment rules if Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi continues to hold the articles of impeachment hostage:
“Well, we’re not going to let Nancy Pelosi use the rules of the Senate to her advantage. This is dangerous to the presidency as an institution,” Graham said. “They impeached the president, but the speaker of the House is holding the articles back, trying to extort from the majority leader of the Senate a trial to her liking. They’re trying to hold these articles over the head of the president.”
He insisted the GOP-controlled Senate wants to follow the model used in President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999. That means the Senate would “take the record established in the House, let the House managers appointed by Pelosi make the argument, let the president make his argument why the two articles are flawed, and then we’ll decide whether we want witnesses.”
Graham said if Pelosi held onto the articles of impeachment then the Senate has “to take matters in our own hands.”
He would work with “McConnell to change the rules of the Senate so we could start the trial without her, if necessary.”
If they changed the rules, the Senate would consider the articles of impeachment delivered to the chamber by the House so they can start the trial. Then the senators would “invite the House over to participate if they would like.”
If the House members refuse the invite, “dismiss the case and get on with governing the country.”
Of course, McConnell has to agree with this move in order for it to happen. His remarks on Friday show that he would go along with Graham.
McConnell said on the Senate floor that Pelosi having any input on the Senate trial is a “fantasy” and a “non-starter.” He made it known that the Senate will not start an impeachment trial until the Democrats “muster the courage to stand behind their slapdash work product and transmit the articles.”
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