to impose deadline on Speaker
The powerful head of the Senate Judiciary Committee is pressing to launch the Senate impeachment trial within "days, not weeks," whether the House moves the articles of impeachment or not.
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., appears to be at odds with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has said he favors sitting out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's refusal to transmit the House's two articles impeaching President Trump to the Senate.
Graham told Fox News Sunday that he is urging McConnell, whom he praised, to consider a change of Senate rules that would permit Graham's committee to get moving on the trial right away, with the goal of having it completed before the end of the month. Graham said the Senate would not permit Pelosi to dictate how the Senate trial is conducted.
Graham said the Senate would follow the model used in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Hearings would be held; the House -- if it chooses to -- could present its case; and then the Senate will decide whether to call witnesses. But, if the House refuses to act, the Senate would formally dismiss the case, he added.
Graham slammed the impeachment case as weak, and said Democrats may be holding the articles in order to try to add another article to strengthen their claims. He decried the "obstruction of Congress" article as specious, saying that the Democrats refused to await a court outcome of Trump's claim of executive privilege. Graham said the impeachment case, and Pelosi's attempt to stall it, are "dangerous to the presidency." The founding fathers "never imagined" that a House leader would behave in such a manner, he said.
Fox News gives the following information:
Another call for a rules change came from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who, along with a group of Republican colleagues, on Monday introduced a change in rules that would allow the Senate to dismiss articles of impeachment against Trump for lack of prosecution by the House, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delays sending the case for trial.
Joining Hawley were Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Braun of Indiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ted Cruz of Texas, Steve Daines of Montana, John Barrasso of Wyoming; Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Joni Ernst of Iowa, David Perdue of Georgia and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma. [No word on why Graham did not join the measure.]
Hawley said, “If Speaker Pelosi is afraid to try her case, the articles should be dismissed for failure to prosecute and Congress should get back to doing the people’s business.”
Hawley’s resolution would allow the Senate to dismiss the articles of impeachment for lack of prosecution, once the House has withheld articles for 25 calendar days or more. Under the proposed rule, any senator would be able to move to dismiss the articles once the time period has elapsed. That motion would then be voted upon by the full Senate.
Thus far, Pelosi has held the articles of impeachment for 19 days, apparently leaving only six congressional work days remaining.
“After three years of searching for a reason to impeach this president, Democrats in the House cannot seem to find the time to send over the articles of impeachment,” Blackburn said in a statement. “If House Democrats are so confident in their findings, they ought to have no problem sending the articles over within a 25-day deadline.”
“Nancy Pelosi is attempting to obstruct a Senate trial. That's all there is to it,” Hawley, who serves with Graham on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said.
“The Constitution says that the Senate is the one that will have the trial. It says the trial will follow the impeachment,” Hawley noted. “Now she’s trying to prevent us in a trial. She’s trying to obstruct it, she’s trying to upend the Constitution.”
On Friday, McConnell panned Pelosi's blockade of the articles.
"The same people who spent weeks screaming that impeachment was so urgent," McConnell said, have "now decided it could wait indefinitely while they check the political winds and look for some new talking points."
Hawley warned, "We could be sitting here in October of this year and Nancy Pelosi could still be sitting on the articles, or when the President gets re-elected, as I believe he will, we could see her still holding on to the articles to try and obstruct a second term. I mean, if the Senate doesn't act, then there’s no end in sight.”
Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., appears to be at odds with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who has said he favors sitting out House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's refusal to transmit the House's two articles impeaching President Trump to the Senate.
Graham told Fox News Sunday that he is urging McConnell, whom he praised, to consider a change of Senate rules that would permit Graham's committee to get moving on the trial right away, with the goal of having it completed before the end of the month. Graham said the Senate would not permit Pelosi to dictate how the Senate trial is conducted.
Graham said the Senate would follow the model used in the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton. Hearings would be held; the House -- if it chooses to -- could present its case; and then the Senate will decide whether to call witnesses. But, if the House refuses to act, the Senate would formally dismiss the case, he added.
Graham slammed the impeachment case as weak, and said Democrats may be holding the articles in order to try to add another article to strengthen their claims. He decried the "obstruction of Congress" article as specious, saying that the Democrats refused to await a court outcome of Trump's claim of executive privilege. Graham said the impeachment case, and Pelosi's attempt to stall it, are "dangerous to the presidency." The founding fathers "never imagined" that a House leader would behave in such a manner, he said.
Fox News gives the following information:
Another call for a rules change came from Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who, along with a group of Republican colleagues, on Monday introduced a change in rules that would allow the Senate to dismiss articles of impeachment against Trump for lack of prosecution by the House, as House Speaker Nancy Pelosi delays sending the case for trial.
Joining Hawley were Rick Scott of Florida, Mike Braun of Indiana, Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee, Ted Cruz of Texas, Steve Daines of Montana, John Barrasso of Wyoming; Tom Cotton of Arkansas, Joni Ernst of Iowa, David Perdue of Georgia and Jim Inhofe of Oklahoma. [No word on why Graham did not join the measure.]
Hawley said, “If Speaker Pelosi is afraid to try her case, the articles should be dismissed for failure to prosecute and Congress should get back to doing the people’s business.”
Hawley’s resolution would allow the Senate to dismiss the articles of impeachment for lack of prosecution, once the House has withheld articles for 25 calendar days or more. Under the proposed rule, any senator would be able to move to dismiss the articles once the time period has elapsed. That motion would then be voted upon by the full Senate.
Thus far, Pelosi has held the articles of impeachment for 19 days, apparently leaving only six congressional work days remaining.
“After three years of searching for a reason to impeach this president, Democrats in the House cannot seem to find the time to send over the articles of impeachment,” Blackburn said in a statement. “If House Democrats are so confident in their findings, they ought to have no problem sending the articles over within a 25-day deadline.”
“Nancy Pelosi is attempting to obstruct a Senate trial. That's all there is to it,” Hawley, who serves with Graham on the Senate Judiciary Committee, said.
“The Constitution says that the Senate is the one that will have the trial. It says the trial will follow the impeachment,” Hawley noted. “Now she’s trying to prevent us in a trial. She’s trying to obstruct it, she’s trying to upend the Constitution.”
On Friday, McConnell panned Pelosi's blockade of the articles.
"The same people who spent weeks screaming that impeachment was so urgent," McConnell said, have "now decided it could wait indefinitely while they check the political winds and look for some new talking points."
Hawley warned, "We could be sitting here in October of this year and Nancy Pelosi could still be sitting on the articles, or when the President gets re-elected, as I believe he will, we could see her still holding on to the articles to try and obstruct a second term. I mean, if the Senate doesn't act, then there’s no end in sight.”
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