When it really comes down to it, this entire impeachment impasse is silly. It’s childish. It’s not the sort of example that we want our public servants to be setting for the next generation of American congresspersons.
Still, the Democrats appear ready to happily ride out this bizarre stonewalling being conducted by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, in which she has refused to transmit the already-passed articles of impeachment to the Senate for trial.
Pelso and her colleagues believe that this will give them some traction to argue for more witnesses in the higher chamber of Congress.
Mitch McConnell believes in no such thing. In fact, he’s ready to simply ignore Pelosi’s procedural tactics altogether.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Tuesday he has the votes to start President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial as soon as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi releases the documents, winning support from GOP senators to postpone a decision on calling witnesses.
The announcement is significant, enabling McConnell to bypass for now Democratic demands for new testimony as he launches the third impeachment trial in the nation’s history. It could begin this week if Pelosi sends the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
But Pelosi gave little indication Tuesday of her next move. She cut short an impeachment discussion with her leadership team late at the Capitol when an aide handed her a note about the crisis unfolding in the Middle East. She asked Democrats to “pray,″ according to a lawmaker at the closed-door session.
McConnell was stern.
“We have the votes,” McConnell told reporters about his proposal that would set the rules for a trial and would be modeled after President Bill Clinton’s impeachment 20 years ago. He said the question of new witnesses and documents will be addressed later “and not before the trial begins.”
Given just how highly the liberal left has praised Pelosi’s unprecedented political wrangling, it appears as though there is little left for the disappointed Democrats to dwell on now.
