McConnell Tells Senate To Expect Trial Start Next Week

Roll Call reports:

Republican senators were told by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Thursday to keep their schedules flexible for the end of next week when they might take up impeachment. Congress is scheduled to leave Washington for a weeklong break at the end of next week that includes the MLK Day holiday on Jan. 20.

An attendee at Thursday’s lunch said McConnell told GOP senators that with the possibility that Speaker Nancy Pelosi could soon send over the impeachment articles from the House soon, senators should be prepared to be at the Capitol for Saturday sessions starting Jan. 18.

Reuters reports:



House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she will “soon’’ transmit the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. Pelosi, D-Calif., faces mounting pressure from Republicans and some Democrats to quit delaying the president’s trial in the Senate, three weeks after the House Democrats impeached Trump on charges of abuse and obstruction.

Many on Capitol Hill expect the Senate impeachment trial to begin next week. The standoff between the House speaker and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., occurred because Pelosi wanted to assert influence on the trial procedures that are the purview of the Senate.