Senate defense, foreign affairs panels try to work around impeachment duties

The Senate’s impeachment trial of President Trump is curbing key legislative business for the defense committees amid tensions with Iran and denuclearization negotiations with North Korea.

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee have cautioned the process will distract from committee business that would normally be on the docket, as the panel rushed to process dozens of Pentagon nominations before the chamber is restricted on its legislative duties. 

“There’s a burden to impeachment, for sure,” a committee aide told The Washington Times.

As part of the formal proceedings — which began Tuesday afternoon — senators are required to be present in the chamber from the start of arguments at 1 p.m. to the end of the session, and cannot report out legislation or nominees until the trial ends.

“It is disruptive, there’s no there’s no doubt about it,” said Thomas Jipping, a senior legal fellow at the Heritage Foundation. “You’re talking about at a minimum, I would think three or four weeks at least, where the Senate just simply can’t do anything else.”

As the Senate geared up for the trial, Sen. Roger Wicker, Mississippi Republican and a member of the Armed Services panel, moved to advance 157 nominations for the Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps, citing how the process “will preclude other Senate business.”

“We hope to report out these nominations before taking up the articles of impeachment on the Senate floor,” he said as he paused an ongoing nomination hearing to hold a vote to approve the nominations. “No objection has been raised to these nominations and I recommend the committee waive the seven-day rule” on advancing nominations to the full Senate for a final confirmation vote.

The committee waived a seven-day waiting period to position the nominations ahead of impeachment business. All of the nominations were approved shortly after.

The Armed Services Committee is not alone in feeling the disruption of the impeachment trial. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee this week was forced to reschedule a classified briefing on the crisis with Iran by military and administration officials.

Sen. Tim Kaine, Virginia Democrat, also has to adjust his strategy on gaining support for a war powers resolution that would limit Mr. Trump’s authority to combat Iran militarily — a resolution that has seen growing bipartisan support.

But Mr. Kaine, who sits on both the Armed Services and Foreign Relations Committee, is planning to push for a vote on the legislation during the trial despite the restrictive rules.

“The Senate always has authority to change the way it operates,” Mr. Jipping said, adding that if the Senate gives unanimous consent, members could hold a vote on specific legislation even during the impeachment process.

The Armed Services Committee doesn’t have plans to slow down either. The committee aide told The Times that although the panel has not announced any future hearings or legislative business, the members plan “to have a robust hearing schedule over the next couple of months.”

“There’s a lot of things that we absolutely can and [Chairman James Inhofe] intends to continue as it relates to oversight and nomination responsibility,” the aide continued. “We still have to do what we need to do.”