WASHINGTON, DC - FEBRUARY 01: U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill February 1, 2011 in Washington, DC. Sen. Joseph Lieberman (I-CT) and Collins discussed the release of a report that says that less than one percent of the 4,000-mile U.S.-Canada border is monitored by U.S. border officials. (Image: Getty)
After the Q&A phase of President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial wrapped up Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Kentucky) revealed that he has just enough votes to prevent witnesses from being called in the Senate trial.
The vote is expected to take place on Friday and would block new witnesses and documents from being presented, bringing the trial to an acquittal verdict as early as Friday.
Preventing new witnesses from taking the stand would take 51 votes, and Democratic leaders would have to sway four Senate Republicans to vote alongside them. “We’ve always known that it will be an uphill fight on witnesses and documents because the president and Mitch McConnell put huge pressure on these folks,” Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-New York) noted.
Subscribe to our free weekly newsletter!
A week of political news in your in-box.
We find the news you need to know, so you don't have to.
In the event of a draw between the parties in the highly anticipated vote, Chief Justice John Roberts would could decide to cast a tie-breaking vote.
To date, only Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) has indicated that he would vote in favor of witnesses. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) has also suggested that she likely would vote in favor of further evidence.
“We’re going to get it done by Friday, hopefully,” Sen. Mike Rounds (R-South Dakota) stated, after the GOP luncheon Wednesday. He expressed confidence that McConnell would be capable of keeping his members in line.
“If I had to guess, no witnesses,” Rounds said.
Rather than hearing from Former National Security Adviser John Bolton, GOP leadership is preparing for a Friday vote to bring the trial to an abrupt halt in an up-or-down vote on the two articles of impeachment – abuse of power and obstruction of justice.
President Donald Trump defended Russian President Vladamir Putin during an Oval Office press conference on Friday after decrying Russia's…
Last week, the Trump Administration raised global steel and aluminum import tariffs to 25%. Then, President…
https://www.youtube.com/shorts/S0LqYShZz2A Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte was arrested in Manila on March 11,…
https://youtu.be/P1py8OfjYmE A House Foreign Affairs Committee Majority hearing was cut short on March 11, after…
https://youtu.be/vkte2RYcQWU Former United States Vice President Kamala Harris spoke at the HumanX conference on artificial intelligence in…
On Sunday, Elon Musk posted on the social media platform X, declaring, “My Starlink system is the…