Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said Thursday that if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi doesn’t transmit the articles of impeachment to the upper chamber by next week, then the Senate will move forward on other business, such as the pending trade deal with the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
“We will operate on the assumption that House Democrats are too embarrassed to move forward,” the Kentucky Republican said on the chamber floor.
The landmark trade deal passed the Senate Finance Committee this week and is being considered by other Senate panels.
“And there is more. The epidemic of opioids, fentanyl and other substance abuse continues to plague our nation. Some colleagues have signaled they may raise privileged resolutions on war powers,” Mr. McConnell added.
“The Senate has plenty of serious work to do for our country. So while the Speaker continues her irresponsible games, we will continue doing the people’s business,” he said.
Mrs. Pelosi, California Democrat, has held on to the impeachment articles for more than three weeks — a move that’s never occurred in the nation’s history. For an impeachment trial to begin in the Senate, the speaker must transmit the articles under past precedent.
Mrs. Pelosi has said she won’t hand them over until House Democrats are guaranteed a fair trial in the Republican-majority chamber. Senate Democrats, meanwhile, have been using the delay to demand that Republicans guarantee the opportunity to hear from witnesses during the trial.
Mr. McConnell has the votes, though, to pass the same impeachment procedure for Mr. Trump that President Clinton had during his trial in 1999. During that time the House managers presented their case and the president’s legal team could respond before the issue of witnesses was decided.
On Wednesday, some Senate Democrats suggested it’s time to get the process rolling and for the impeachment articles to be handed over, breaking with Mrs. Pelosi.
“Senators may not agree on much, but it appears most of us still recognize a threat to our institution when we see one,” Mr. McConnell said. “We senators lost patience with it.”
Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer said Thursday Mrs. Pelosi has “done just the right thing.”
The New York Democrat said if she transmitted the articles of impeachment right away, the Senate Republicans would have tried to dismiss the charges against the president quickly.
“Not only have they been prevented from doing that, but there have been several crucial disclosures of evidence,” Mr. Schumer said.
One sticking point Democrats have seen as a victory is the president’s former National Security Adviser John R. Bolton announcing earlier this week he would testify in the trial if he was subpoenaed by the Senate. During the House impeachment inquiry, Mr. Bolton had refused to cooperate.
House Democrats impeached Mr. Trump on Dec. 18, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress stemming from a July 25 phone call with his Ukrainian counterpart where Mr. Trump requested a probe into his political rival, former Vice President Joseph R. Biden.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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