McConnell: Pelosi Having Input on Senate Impeachment Trial a ‘Fantasy,’ ‘Non-Starter’
“For now, we are content to continue the ordinary business of the Senate while House Democrats continue to flounder.”
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell wasted no time on the first day back from the holiday break to attack Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Democrats over the impeachment of President Donald Trump:
“We’ve heard it claimed that the same House Democrats who botched their own process should get to reach over here into the Senate and dictate our process,” McConnell said from the Senate floor.
“Let me clarify Senate rules and Senate history for those who may be confused,” McConnell added. “First, about this fantasy that the Speaker of the House will get to hand-design the trial proceedings in the Senate, that’s obviously a non-starter.”
McConnell expressed his continued desire to hold a trial similar to President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial in 1999. Clinton had two resolutions, which McConnell wants:
- Determine the rules for the proceeding
- Determine which witnesses to call to testify
The leader told the chamber that “President Trump should get the same treatment that every senator thought was fair with President Clinton.”
However, McConnell also said that the Senate cannot hold a trial without the articles of impeachment:
“We can’t hold a trial without the articles,” McConnell said. “The Senate’s own rules don’t provide for that.” McConnell had planned to begin the Senate trial this month but said he will instead move to regular legislation.
“For now, we are content to continue the ordinary business of the Senate while House Democrats continue to flounder, for now,” McConnell said, adding that if Democrats “ever muster the courage to stand behind their slapdash work product and transmit the articles,” the Senate will start the trial.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer then whined that McConnell did not provide “one good reason why there shouldn’t be relevant witnesses or relevant documents.” I guess he missed McConnell’s speech because he said that could happen once they have settled on the rules, but especially once the Senate possesses the articles of impeachment.
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Comments
It’s perfectly fine for McConnell to say “We’re not going to take action on it until it reaches us.”
I propose a daily email to the Speaker.
Still no sign of that impeachment document you made such a fuss over being an emergency last year. Oh, and we approved six more circuit court justices today, so no rush.
“Nancy, I keep hearing this rumor you’ve impeached the President. Since I haven’t seen an formal notice of same, I’m considering it fake news. That okay with you?”
Judges
Not Hillary
Everything else is gravy
Keep the eye on the ball….
It is hard to believe that the Democrats have become so dysfunctional, more like psychotic. In total freefall. Most regressed to tween like behavior and reasoning.
Dems have a few decades of inbreeding among themselves by now you know……
JD:
They are neither dysfuncional or psychotic. Rather, they are in business, and PDJT is destroying the corrupt gravtrain. That gravytrain extends from congress, to our media, to our schools to welfare recipients to uninns, to state and local governments, and pedophiles getting protection.
Their scam has been exposed for most sane people to see. Tantrums, fake news and rioting has worked in the past, so they continue their techniques.
It’s not working anymore. But do NOT dismiss their evil as crazy. Rather, it’s all about money or pedophelia.
It’s really a no brainer rather than a non-starter… There’s already SCOTUS precedent (Walter Nixon vs. United States-1993) that states the House has “sole authority” over impeachment and the Senate has “sole authority” over the decision to try or acquit. Chief Justice Rehnquist even deemed it to be “unjudiciable.”
Yep. Just as I suspected. McConnell has no balls. Instead of this “regular legislation” nonsense he should be informing Pelosi that no legislation (beyond federal court confirmations) will be considered until such time as the issue of the impeachment of Pres. Trump has been considered in the Senate
But I would hardly expect that to happen.
I don’t expect that to happen either, because it would be playing right into the hands of the Dems.
When the enemy is digging a hole, let them.
The Dems are digging one whale of a hole with their on-again/off-again impeachment.
Sorry, I don’t buy that. McConnell needs to throw the whole thing back onto the Pelosi and the democrats and make it perfectly clear that no business will be conducted in the Senate until the issue of impeachment is dealt with. Throw it right back onto the democrats. Make it their problem and not a Republican problem. If McConnell insists on this “business as usual” idiocy then the democrats have won and the “impeachment” will hang over Pres.Trump until the November presidential election.
Uh, Lucifer, generally speaking, “business as usual” in an R controlled senate is in opposition to that of a D controlled house.
I know there is not a big difference, but there is enough.
No Barry, by claiming “business as usual” McConnell is giving Pelosi and Schumer exactly what they want. The ability to claim Pres. Trump is “impeached” without actually going through the constitutional process of impeachment. And that’s exactly what the Republicans cannot allow to happen. So McConnell needs to throw the whole bloody mess back to the House and inform Pelosi that no legislation (beyond federal court confirmations) will be considered (up to and including pork barrel emergency spending bills) until the matter of Pres. Trump’s impeachment is settled.
Flip the whole mess back onto Pelosi and the democrats so that Senate Republicans can honestly state, “Well, we want this issue settled but the democrats are refusing to do their constitutional duty by sending us the Articles of Impeachment so here we are.”
I know the difference is subtle but there is a difference.
Disagree strongly with Lucifer’s position. If McConnell were to shut down the Senate, that would be the same as granting Nancy Pelosi veto power over all Senate action. That’s wrong. Nancy is going to find that she is in an unsustainable situation, where Trump and McConnell can mock her for her inability to carry through every day. Meanwhile, just keep on confirming those judges.
Trump wins either way, and McConnell is on firm legal ground by refusing to acknowledge something the House hasn’t sent to him.
And I strongly disagree with your position. Pelosi has already “vetoed” any chance of having a Senate trial by refusing to send over the Articles of Impeachment. But she never wanted a Senate trial. Hell, Pelosi never wanted impeachment to proceed at all. But she was railroaded into it by the more radical democrats in the House. In any case, ignoring the issue McConnell is simply handing Pelosi, Schumer and the democrats exactly what they want. The ability to say that Pres. Trump was impeached without having to go through that pesky Senate trial. And make no mistake, we’ll be hearing that for the next ten months in the run up to the November presidential elections. So instead of ignoring it, McConnell should throw the issue back onto Pelosi and the House democrats by stating that no legislation will be considered (up to and including pork barrel emergency spending bills) until the impeachment issue is resolved by a Senate trial. But of course, keep confirming those federal court judges by all means.
McConnell might be on “firm legal ground” by ignoring the issue but it certainly isn’t a win for the Pres. Trump or the Republicans to have it hanging over them for the next ten months.
Declaring NO business until the impeachment is dealt with would be a benefit to the Democrats, who don’t want a Republican majority Senate to do anything.
Declaring no business in the Senate stops the confirmation of judges. How does that hurt the dems and help us?
The senate could simply ignore Pelosi and go on about their regular business. Haha, send her a copy of the Lane Bryant spring catalog with a note saying “impeach this”.
Until the Dems send over the articles of impeachment, McConnell should ignore any talk about impeachment and concentrate on confirming as many judges as possible. This is a perfect opportunity to expedite the confirmations while the Dems and their media are dithering on impeachment.
“Cool story, Granny. Now get back to your room.”
PROCEDURE AND GUIDELINES FOR
IMPEACHMENT TRIALS IN THE
UNITED STATES SENATE
(REVISED EDITION)
“I. Whensoever the Senate shall receive notice from the
House of Representatives that managers are appointed on their
part to conduct an impeachment against any person and are
directed to carry articles of impeachment to the Senate…..”
https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CDOC-99sdoc33/html/CDOC-99sdoc33.htm
*****
Mitch could change the rules or dismiss for cause, etc. but I don’t think he has a majority vote to deviate from rules and procedures established 100-0 for the Clinton trial.
The dem ace in the hole – impeach him in 2021 after he wins re-election and they retake the senate.
I hope they’re holding their breath.
To do that, the Dems would have to keep every seat they current have in the Senate (defending 12 in 2020), and win almost every seat the GOP is defending in 2020 (23 seats), and then get every single one of them to vote for conviction.
Don’t hold your breath for that scenario to come true…
No, but if the Dems get a net pickup of 4, they could tie up Trump in endless impeachment trials during his second term.
Like he’s tied up now, kitty? Ask an Iranian how that works.
nancy pelosi is the current poster-idiot for a generation of men saying goodbye to marriage.
McConnell is right. Pelosi may never send the articles over, or she may wait until after the election. Nothing should be held up for her game playing. She sends them if and when she sends them, and the Senate will deal with it then.