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On Politics | IMPEACHMENT. 2020 ELECTION. WASHINGTON. AND MORE FROM THE POLITICS WORLD. | Thursday, December 19 | | |
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| Good evening, OnPolitics readers. Last night was really something, wasn't it? |
| We're going to keep this newsletter to impeachment updates - because there are plenty - but tonight is also the last primary Democratic debate of the year. The debate, hosted by PBS Newshour and Politico, will start at 8 p.m. EST, last for three hours and be hosted at Loyola Marymount University. You can watch on local PBS stations and on CNN, CNN International and CNN en Español - or stream it online. |
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| Now, impeachment updates: |
What's the next step in the process? |
| The House of Representatives voted to impeach President Donald Trump Wednesday night. The next step is a Senate trial. Let's dust off our government textbooks and go through the set-up: |
| • | The Senate will approve a resolution that determines how the trial can be conducted, including how evidence can be presented, the number of days the trial can last and how many witnesses can be included. | | • | Chief Justice John Roberts will preside over the Senate trial, as called for by the Constitution. | | • | House members, called "managers," will serve as prosecutors. Lawyers retained by the president will defend him. | | • | The full 100-member Senate is the jury. | | • | If two-thirds or more of the 100-member Senate (67 senators or more) find the president guilty, the president is removed from office. The vice president then becomes president. | |
| (Want to know more about the process? We've got a handy guide for that.) |
'As of today, we remain at an impasse' |
| Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Minority Leader Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., met today to discuss parameters of the trial, which will likely take place in January. But the leaders could not come to an agreement. |
| • | Schumer reiterated his position that witnesses and documents are needed and asked that McConnell mull over this proposal over the holidays. | | • | After the meeting, McConnell took to the Senate floor to say he was opposed to the idea and explained he wanted a minimalist resolution that outlined procedures for the start of the trial, similar to something that passed unanimously during President Bill Clinton's impeachment. "As of today, we remain at an impasse," McConnell said on the Senate floor. | | • | If Schumer and McConnell do not come to a compromise over procedures in a Senate trial then a group of 51 senators, a majority, may vote to establish rules. Or, the Senate can vote on measures throughout the trial, such as whether to hear from specific witnesses. | |
| House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., wouldn't say when the articles of impeachment would be sent to the Senate for a trial. "I'm not prepared to put the managers in that bill because we don't know the arena we are in," Pelosi told reporters at a weekly news conference. "Frankly, I don't care what the Republicans say." She said she wanted to see the process in the Senate before deciding who would serve as House managers. |
Who will be the big names in this next phase? |
| As the focus of the impeachment saga shifts to the Senate, the president's lawyers, defenders and even some moderate Republicans who could vote against him are stepping into the spotlight: |
| • | McConnell will serve as the architect of the trial and has indicated his preference for shorter proceedings. | | • | He'll work with Schumer to determine how long the trial will last, how evidence is presented and whether there will be any witnesses called (see above). | | • | Pat Cipollone, the top White House attorney, is Trump's chief strategist on impeachment proceedings and the president said he'll likely head up his defense during the trial. | | • | Eric Ueland, White House director of legislative affairs: Ueland assists Cipollone in trying to ensure Republicans on Capitol Hill are in lockstep with the White House during the impeachment proceedings. Ueland spent more than two decades as a top Senate Republican aide before joining the administration. | | • | Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, is a staunch Trump ally and has attended multiple impeachment strategy meetings at the White House since the inquiry was launched in September. Over the weekend, Graham said he's ready to vote against the articles of impeachment. | | • | And more, who you can read about here. | |
What historical context can we apply to these events? |
| Most of us have lived through the impeachment of President Bill Clinton, and are using that as a reference point for how the next steps will go with Trump. Trump's trial on two articles of impeachment is likely to begin next month, almost 21 years to the day after Clinton's trial on two articles of impeachment. Within a matter of weeks, as in 1999, it almost surely will end in his acquittal. That's where the similarities end . |
What else was trending after last night's impeachment? |
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| - Until tomorrow |
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