Tag: GOP senate

Up to 10 GOP senators consider bucking Trump on war powers

The Hill logoAs many as 10 Republican senators are considering bucking President Trumpon a resolution that would limit his ability to take military action against Iran.

The increasing number is the latest sign of growing GOP frustration over the Trump administration’s justification for the drone strike that killed Iranian Gen. Qassem Soleimani.

Sen. Tim Kaine (D-Va.) is circulating a bipartisan resolution that would direct Trump to remove U.S. forces from any hostilities against Iran within 30 days of its enactment. Continue reading.

Impeachment articles’ path to Senate governed by rules and precedent

Before trial starts, expect pomp, circumstance and ceremony

The expected House vote this week to name impeachment managers for the Senate trial and authorize them to spend House funds will set in motion a set of established steps that will guide the articles of impeachment from the House to the Senate.

The resolution, which won’t be released until Speaker Nancy Pelosi meets with her caucus Tuesday morning, will appoint managers who will act as prosecutors during the Senate trial that will determine whether the impeached President Donald Trump is removed from office. They will present the case for the House impeachment articles, approved in December, which charge the president with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

The transfer of the articles of impeachment between the chambers has been delayed by a weekslong standoff between Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell regarding the parameters of the Senate trial. While Pelosi has agreed to relinquish her grip on the articles, there will not be a tense photo op of a handoff between the two congressional leaders. Continue reading.

Republicans face reckoning on impeachment witnesses

Some GOP senators are at odds over how to handle a key part of Trump’s trial.

Republican Sen. Rand Paul offered a warning to his colleagues as they began debating whether to hear from witnesses like John Bolton in President Donald Trump’s imminent impeachment trial.

“Don’t think you can just vote for Bolton and not the witnesses Trump wants,” Paul told senators at a party lunch last week, according to two attendees and two people briefed on the meeting. He advised that incumbent senators’ conservative base would be enraged if vulnerable lawmakers were seen as undercutting Trump.

The blunt advice from Paul laid bare the GOP’s perilous task in handling Trump’s impeachment trial in an election year, all while the president delivers stage directions on his Twitter account. Trump over the weekend first requested that House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) and even Speaker Nancy Pelosi appear as witnesses, then argued a few hours later that the trial should be dismissed summarily before it begins. Continue reading.

Senate Impeachment Trial Must Include All Important Evidence

Center for American Progress logoIn impeaching President Donald Trump, the U.S. House of Representatives uncovered overwhelming evidence that Trump extorted a foreign government to interfere in the 2020 election. The House did so even though Trump engaged in unprecedented obstruction of Congress by blocking critically important witnesses and documents, circumstances that underlay the House’s second impeachment article. Now, as the U.S. Senate begins the trial phase of impeachment proceedings, every senator must make a crucial decision: recklessly support the president’s obstruction or uphold their oaths under the U.S. Constitution.

Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) made a reasonable request that the Senate obtain a limited set of additional firsthand evidence and testimony from persons directly involved in Trump’s scheme. Yet, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) seems intent on beginning the Senate impeachment trial without committing to require witnesses and relevant documents that have been withheld by the Trump administration. It is very possible that at no time will majority party senators impose this requirement, and they have offered no substantive reason why this evidence would be unnecessary here.

This is an untenable position. The Senate should see all available, relevant evidence rather than willfully avoid finding out information that President Trump’s supporters fear will damage him. Continue reading.

Even after the Senate trial begins, the House could still add more impeachment articles

The 1936 impeachment of a Florida federal judge outlines the process for adding new charges

House Democrats are preparing to send two articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate, but they still could add more — even after the Senate trial begins.

If the House managers appointed next week found evidence to support additional articles of impeachment against the president, whether from potential witness testimony on the Senate floor or through other means, they could march back across the Capitol and seek an amended impeachment article resolution on the House floor.

While there is no reason to suspect House Democrats would add new charges, a precedent referenced in Jefferson’s Manual from the 1936 judicial impeachment of Halsted L. Ritter, who had been a federal judge based in Palm Beach County, Florida, appears to give them that power. Continue reading.

Democrats brace for round two of impeachment witness fight

The Hill logoSenate Democrats are preparing for round two in the fight over impeachment trial witnesses.

Now that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has won round one, saying he has the 51 votes needed to start President Trump’s impeachment trial without an agreement on potential testimony, Democrats are vowing they will force votes at multiple points during the trial.

The strategy sets up key junctures to watch during the likely weeks-long trial that, Democrats hope, keeps pressure on a handful of GOP senators they will need to win any of the looming procedural battles. Continue reading.

For Trump’s Republican defenders, is there such thing as too much presidential power?

Washington Post logoPerhaps more than any other modern president, President Trump has been blatantly intent on expanding his power. And Republicans in Congress have been willing to let him, especially on the two biggest news stories of the week: impeachment and Iran.

All presidents test how far they can push away Congress, especially when it comes to war. Congress has let presidents take the lead when it comes to military conflict, despite lawmakers’ constitutional right to be the branch that declares war.

But legal experts The Fix spoke to also say Trump is rapidly expanding presidential power, and most of the Republican Party is cheering him on — even as it happens at the expense of their own power to hold future Democratic presidents accountable. Continue reading.

Some Harvard Law School students are avoiding applying to clerkships with Trump-appointed judges

Used to be that the promise of earning a sterling line on a resume and connections to stars of the legal profession was enough to lure Harvard law students to federal clerkships.

But recently, when Harvard Law School was urging its students to apply to work for one of President Trump’s newly appointed judges, it felt the need to offer further incentives: “Next to Lake Tahoe and great skiing!” the job alert read.

But that apparently wasn’t enough. Two days later, in mid-December, the law school again nudged its students to apply for clerkships with federal judges, noting that some judges, including two Trump appointees, had received no Harvard applications — calling them “wasted opportunities.” Continue reading.

McConnell tells GOP senators to expect impeachment trial next week

The Hill logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) told Republicans during a closed-door lunch on Thursday to expect President Trump’s impeachment trial to start next week. 

Three GOP senators said the Republican leader warned lawmakers during the caucus meeting that they should not expect to be able to go home next weekend, indicating that the long-delayed trial will be underway.

Proceedings have been held up while Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has refused to send over the House-passed articles of impeachment, but she told reporters earlier Thursday that she would “soon” do so. Continue reading.

McConnell backs changing Senate rules over Pelosi impeachment delay

Axios logoSenate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has signed onto a resolution by Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.) seeking to change the rules of the Senate to dismiss articles of impeachment if they are not transmitted within 25 days of their approval — in this case, Jan. 12.

Why it matters: The constitutionality of such a move, which 12 other co-sponsors have signed onto, is not clear. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi reiterated on Thursday that she is waiting to see what the Senate trial will look like before she names impeachment managers and transmits the articles.

  • McConnell has said he has the GOP votes to approve a resolution on trial rules without support from Democrats, and he has repeatedly criticized Pelosi for attempting to interfere with the Senate process.
  • The Senate would require a two-thirds majority in order to change the rules, unless McConnell were to invoke the “nuclear option” and decide the issue by a simple majority vote. Continue reading.