9 GOP Senators Refuse To Sign On To Lindsey Graham’s Resolution Condemning House Impeachment Inquiry

Senate Republicans issued a resolution condemning the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump and calling the House to vote on the inquiry itself.

The resolution was led by Senate Judiciary Committee chairman Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and is backed by 44 GOP senators.

Graham has called the impeachment inquiry “a rogue action” and told reporters that “the process in the House today I think is a danger to the future of the presidency.”

In an interview on Fox News, Graham said the Senate condemns how the House has been handling the inquiry.

“Here’s the point of the resolution: Any impeachment vote based on this process, to me, is illegitimate, is unconstitutional, and should be dismissed in the Senate without a trial,” he said.

The GOP has been critical of the House Democrats for launching the probe without ever holding a floor vote. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) argued that House rules do not require a vote.

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“There’s a right way to do it and a wrong way to do it, and this is a dangerous way to do it,” Graham said of the committee-led impeachment probe.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) said in a statement that the House “is violating basic rules of due process” and “breaking with critical precedents.”

Sen. John Kennedy (D-Louisiana), a co-sponsor of the resolution, criticized the impeachment inquiry as violating a slew of constitutional protections. “Democrats musts think the American people are really stupid,” he said.

If the House was to hold a formal vote on the impeachment inquiry, several swing state Democrats would be forced to publicly take a stand as they run for reelection themselves.

The GOP senators not cosponsoring the resolution as of Thursday afternoon are: Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Cory Gardner (R-Colorado), Lamar Alexander (R-Tennessee), Mike Enzi (R-Wyoming), Johnny Isakson (R-Georgia), Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) and Rob Portman (R-Ohio).

Graham had originally planned to send a letter to Pelosi stating that Republicans would not go along with the Democrats’ impeachment inquiry, but had to tone it down after several GOP lawmakers said they could not commit to signing. The resolution was then brought to the table.

Article by Katherine Huggins