Mitch McConnell Says Impeachment Is At An ‘Impasse’ As Lawmakers Leave For Vacation

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said the impeachment trial for President Donald Trump is at an “impasse” as lawmakers leave for holiday vacation.

The House took its final vote of the year Thursday without sending articles of impeachment to the Senate, indicating that the impeachment trial will not begin until late January.

“We remain at an impasse on these logistics,” McConnell said on the floor after a meeting with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-New York) on Thursday.

He continued, “I continue to believe that the unanimous bipartisan precedent that was good enough for President (Bill) Clinton that ought to be good enough for President Trump,” referring to the resolution that passed 100-0 at the beginning of the Clinton impeachment trial. That resolution did not involve selecting witnesses.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-California) said before she would send the articles of impeachment to the Senate that a resolution naming impeachment managers must first be approved. She said she will not name managers until she has a better picture of how the Senate trial will play out.

Schumer is still pushing for the Senate to call more witnesses during the trial.

“Sen. Schumer asked Sen. McConnell to consider Sen. Schumer’s proposal over the holidays because Sen. Schumer and his caucus believe the witnesses and documents are essential to a fair Senate trial,” Schumer’s spokesman, Justin Goodman, said in a statement.

McConnell believes the House will quickly pass the resolution and select the impeachment managers, saying that the Senate’s first votes are expected on Jan. 6 and the House’s will take place the next day.

While some have questioned if Pelosi will send the articles to the Senate, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) said during a Fox News interview that the President was “demanding his day in court.”