This archive report was first published on 19 October 2019.
Published on October 19, 2019, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has reportedly told colleagues that he expects the House to impeach President Donald Trump quickly, possibly by Thanksgiving. This prediction is based on the pace of the inquiry so far and Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to keep the inquiry narrowly focused on Mr. Trump's dealings with Ukraine.
Mr. McConnell plans to move swiftly, aiming to force the Senate to complete its work before the beginning of 2020. However, an impeachment trial is a spectacle that is inherently unpredictable, and most of the senators who will act as jurors were not around for the last one, which involved President Bill Clinton in 1999.
Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will preside over the trial, with wide latitude in handling motions that might be made, including any motion to dismiss the charges that Republicans might try to put forward to short circuit the process.
Mr. McConnell's declaration that the Senate would move forward was partly designed to deflect criticism from conservatives outraged that the Senate would even consider impeachment. Senator Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, had pushed for Senate Republicans to write a letter to Ms. Pelosi declaring that they would not remove the president, but some senators raised objections, fearing that some of their colleagues would not want to sign on.
Mr. McConnell has made it clear that he plans to sit down with Senator Chuck Schumer of New York, the Democratic leader, to see if they can find a mutually acceptable way to move forward. The Senate is much more polarized now, but Mr. Schumer has held out hope for a fair and bipartisan trial.
“We have to do this trial in a fair and bipartisan way and I hope that Leader McConnell would obey those strictures,” Mr. Schumer said.
Just 15 senators remain in office from the time Mr. Clinton was put on trial. Mr. McConnell warned them of the weight of the trial, where they can be required to be on the floor all afternoon six days a week without speaking – a major challenge for senators who relish their chances to be heard.
“It will mean day after day sitting in chamber, listening to the two sides, writing questions for them to answer that go through the chief justice,” said Senator Susan Collins, one of the Republicans who voted to acquit Mr. Clinton 20 years ago. “Members who have not been through this before will find it is a great deal of work.”
