Tag: Chuck Schumer

Trump’s trial a major test for McConnell, Schumer

The Hill logoThe stakes for McConnell and Schumer, who have been longtime political adversaries, are high.

In 1999, Democrats scored a big victory in President Clinton’s impeachment trial by convincing a handful of Republicans to cross the aisle and vote against the two articles of impeachment passed by the House. Ten Republicans voted against Article I charging Clinton with perjury and five Republicans voted against Article II charging the president with obstruction of justice.
Clinton and his allies hailed it as an acquittal and saw depriving Republicans — who controlled the chamber with 55 seats — of a majority vote for impeachment as a major victory. Sen. Tom Harkin (D-Iowa) was spotted exchanging high fives on media row in the Russell Rotunda immediately after the vote.

If Schumer can convince four Senate Republicans to vote to subpoena additional witnesses and documents, as he has demanded for weeks, it would be a big win. And if he can convince any Republicans to vote for articles of impeachment — something that Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) failed to do in the House — it will be a bigger victory. Continue reading.

Schumer aims to drive wedge between Republicans on impeachment

The Hill logoSenate Democrats are waging a pressure campaign to try get their GOP colleagues to break ranks on impeachment witnesses.

Absent a deal with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Democrats are expected to force floor votes on their requests for trial documents and witnesses, including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), backed by members of his caucus, is working to put Republicans in a bind and drive a wedge between GOP leaders, who say they don’t want witnesses, and a handful of moderate and retiring senators viewed by Democrats as persuadable on procedure. Continue reading

Toxic McConnell-Schumer relationship strains impeachment talks

The Hill logoThe toxic relationship between Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) and Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) has left senators pessimistic about reaching a deal to set the rules of President Trump’s impeachment trial.

The leaders already have scars from the battles over Brett Kavanaugh’s nomination to the Supreme Court in 2018, efforts to repeal ObamaCare in 2017 and McConnell’s refusal to hold a vote on former President Obama’s nomination of Merrick Garland to the Supreme Court in 2016, among other controversies.

So perhaps it should not be surprising that talks on rules for the trial are off to a rocky start. Continue reading

McConnell shoots down Schumer’s offer on Senate impeachment trial rules

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday tore into an initial offer from Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) on impeachment trial rules.

McConnell, speaking from the Senate floor, described the proposal from the Democratic leader as “dead wrong” and warned that it “could set a nightmarish precedent for our institution.”

“The Senate Democratic leader would apparently like our chamber to do House Democrats’ homework for them. He wants to volunteer the Senate’s time and energy on a fishing expedition,” McConnell said.

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Schumer calls for testimony from Mulvaney, Bolton in proposal to GOP on parameters for Trump impeachment trial

Washington Post logoThe top Senate Democrat on Sunday called for subpoenaing several senior Trump administration officials who have yet to testify in the House’s impeachment probe as witnesses for President Trump’s likely trial — part of an opening salvo in negotiations that could determine the parameters for the Senate proceedings next month.

In a letter to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer (D-N.Y.) outlined a number of procedural demands that Democrats say would make the Senate trial fair and able to be completed “within a reasonable period of time.”

That includes subpoenas issued by Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. for acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney; Robert Blair, a senior adviser to Mulvaney; former national security adviser John Bolton; and Michael Duffey, a top official at the Office of Management and Budget. Mulvaney, Blair and Duffey had been subpoenaed by the House committees and defied the summons; Bolton has not been subpoenaed but indicated he would fight one in court.

Continue reading

Schumer seeks focus on health care amid impeachment fever

The Hill logoSenate Democrats plan to force vulnerable Republicans to vote on legislation that would overturn a controversial Trump administration directive on ObamaCare.

The strategy shows Democrats will continue playing offense on ObamaCare, which for years was a political liability for the party. The 2010 law was by and large unpopular until the GOP nearly eradicated it during the last Congress.

Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) this month will make targeted GOP incumbents such as Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Cory Gardner (Colo.) and Martha McSally (Ariz.) take a tough vote.

View the complete October 16 article by Alexander Bolton on The Hill website here.

Schumer pushes for vote to make clear Trump needs congressional approval for Iran War

Democrats returning from a White House meeting on the same page about limitations of current authorizations

Returning to Capitol Hill after a meeting at the White House about the shooting down of an American drone, Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumerincreased the pressure for a floor vote to make clear that authorization would be needed for military action against Iran.

The New York Democrat highlighted an amendment that has been filed to the fiscal 2020 defense policy bill led by Sens. Tom Udall, D-N.M., and Tim Kaine, D-Va. The Senate is expected to proceed to the Pentagon legislation Monday evening.

“We told the room that the Democratic position is that congressional approval must be required before funding any conflict in Iran,” Schumer said. “One of the best ways to avoid bumbling into war, a war that nobody wants, is to have a robust, open debate, and for Congress to have a real say.”

View the complete June 20 article by Niels Lesniewski on The Roll Call website here.

Here’s what really led to Trump’s Rose Garden temper tantrum

Hint: It was not Pelosi’s remarks about a presidential cover-up.

Trump was scheduled to meet with Democratic leaders at the White House on Wednesday morning to continue their discussion about infrastructure. Just prior to the meeting, Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with her caucus and made this statement to the press about their discussion.

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JUST IN: Speaker Pelosi says “we believe the president of the United States is engaged in a cover up” by stonewalling testimony for ongoing congressional investigations.

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When Democratic leaders arrived at the White House, Trump walked into the room, went on a five-minute rant about ongoing investigations, and then walked out. He proceeded to the Rose Garden where he held a supposedly impromptu press conference, refusing to govern until Democrats stopped their investigations. They claim that it was Pelosi’s remarks about a cover-up that triggered it all.

But take a look at the lectern from which the president made his remarks in the Rose Garden.

View the complete May 23 article by Nancy LeTourneau from The Washington Monthly on the AlterNet website here.

Trump’s infrastructure week meltdown backfired immediately — and Senate Republicans know it

The day after Republicans lost control of the House of Representatives following last fall’s midterm elections, President Trump took to both Twitter and a podium at the White House to warn Democrats not to investigate his administration or else he would use the power of the presidency to stop any new federal legislation.

“If that happens,” Trump said of Democratic investigations leading to subpoenas for members of his administration, “then we’re going to do the same thing, and government comes to a halt. And I would blame them.”

On Wednesday, Trump made good on his threat.

View the complete May 23 article by Sophia Tesfaye from Salon on the AlterNet website here.

Trump cuts off talks with Democrats after Pelosi accuses him of cover-up

NOTE:  Anyone besides us wonder how a spontaneous press conference can come with signage and handouts? That leads us to doubt the issues was Speaker Pelosi’s comment and more about not being able to pull an infrastructure plan together that would he’d be able to get through Congress.

President Trump on Wednesday cut off infrastructure talks with congressional Democratic leaders after Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) said he was engaged in a “cover up,” then lit into Democrats and declared he would not work with them until their investigations are over.

After their meeting abruptly ended, Trump appeared in the White House Rose Garden and demanded that Democrats “get these phony investigations over with” before talks resume.

“I’ve said from the beginning that you probably can’t go down two tracks,” Trump said. “You can go down the investigation track or you can go down the investment track … We’re going to go down one track at a time.”

View the complete May 22 article by Jordan Fabian on The Hill website here.