WASHINGTON--Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he had enough support from his fellow Republicans to set the rules for President Donald Trump's impeachment trial, dealing a blow to Democrats' efforts to call new witnesses against the president.
Democrats responded by saying they still want more details on the trial process before any further action is taken although they have little leverage if Republicans, who control the Senate, remain united. The Senate trial should hear testimony from at least three White House officials and Trump's former national security adviser, John Bolton, about the president's efforts to pressure Ukraine to investigate a political rival, Democrats say.
McConnell has resisted the idea, instead seeking a fast trial based on evidence collected in the House of Representatives before it voted last month to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. While Republicans are still divided over whether the Senate should eventually hear more testimony, the vast majority of them have agreed to leave the decision until after the trial has started, McConnell told a news conference.
"Obviously, that is the most contentious part of these proceedings and that will be addressed at that time and not before the trial begins," he said.
Senator Lindsey Graham said at least 51 of the 53 Republicans in the Senate were backing that plan, which he said was similar to an arrangement made during the 1999 impeachment trial of then-President Bill Clinton after Republicans and Democrats were similarly deadlocked over the question of witness testimony.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat, has declined to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate, effectively delaying any trial in the hope that Senate Democrats could win support for the introduction of new witnesses and documents that could bolster their case for removing Trump from office. In a letter to House Democrats, Pelosi said she needed to see the details of McConnell's plan so that "we can see the arena in which we will be participating, appoint managers and transmit the articles to the Senate."
Because of the united front among Republican senators, McConnell has emerged as the clear winner of the standoff with Pelosi, Republican strategist Alex Conant said. "Pelosi started down this pathway without a clear exit ramp, and McConnell just took control of the car," said Conant, who added that the Senate Republican leader was in a position to control the process unless Democrats co-opted four Republicans.
