Democrats to send articles to Senate next week: Pelosi
US House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday she intends to transmit articles of impeachment against Donald Trump to the Senate next week, moving to end a taut standoff with Republicans over terms of the president’s trial.
The top Democrat’s announcement virtually assures that a historic trial of Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress begins this month, as anticipated.
But she declined to provide a specific timeline for the next steps and did not announce which House Democrats she will ask to spearhead the case in the Senate, saying lawmakers should be ready to vote to appoint the managers some time next week.
“I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate,” Pelosi said in a letter to her Democratic caucus.
“I will be consulting with you at our Tuesday House Democratic Caucus meeting on how we proceed further.”
Pelosi has withheld the articles since Trump was impeached by the House of Representatives on December 18 over allegations that he improperly pressured Ukraine to investigate his potential 2020 election rival Joe Biden, and that he obstructed the subsequent congressional probe.
The top Democrat in Congress had hoped Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, of Trump’s Republican Party, would provide assurances of what she described as a “fair” trial in which Democrats can subpoena witnesses and documents.
But McConnell -- who, like Pelosi, is seen as a wily political strategist -- refused to budge, announcing this week he had sufficient Republican votes to conduct a trial without acceding to Democratic demands.
“There will be no haggling with the House over Senate procedure,” he said on Wednesday.
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