WASHINGTON —Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell walked his members through how an impeachment trial would operate on Wednesday, in the latest sign that they’re gearing up for formal proceedings and doubt they’ll have the votes to stymie a full trial.
He and his staff used a slideshow presentation at the GOP’s weekly Senate lunch, the first gathering of the senators since they returned from a two-week congressional recess on Tuesday.
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McConnell (R-Ky.) said that the trial would likely last six to eight weeks, predicting it might occur between Thanksgiving and Christmas and wrap up before the end of the year if the House moves speedily on articles of impeachment, according to members present.
Afterwards, he laid out some of the basic ground rules during his weekly press conference.
“We’ll take the matter up. The chief justice [of the Supreme Court] will be in the chair. We will have to convene every day, six days out of seven, at 12:30 or 1 o’clock in the afternoon,” McConnell told reporters Wednesday. “Senators won’t be allowed to speak, which will be good therapy for a number of them. We intend to do our constitutional responsibilities.”
McConnell previously said he’d have “no choice” but to conduct an impeachment trial if the House passes articles of impeachment, but he hadn’t laid out how that process would work. He’s also run Facebook campaign ads declaring that “the way that impeachment stops is a Senate majority with me as majority leader.”
The senators also discussed whether they’d be able to make a motion to dismiss the impeachment articles without a trial — but got the sense they wouldn’t have the votes to do so.
Republican senators say they discussed the possibility that they’ll need to work through the holidays and the fact that without unanimous consent from all senators, they wouldn’t be able to work on other legislation during the trial.
“Most people believe we’ll deal with it. Every indication is that articles will be coming our way eventually,” Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told reporters.
Cover: Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., joined at left by Sen. Todd Young, R-Ind., speaks to reporters during a news conference at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, Sept. 17, 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite)
