Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) signaled on Monday there would be no movement on impeachment until after Congress returns to session in January.
Speaking to reporters in Kentucky, McConnell was tight-lipped about impeachment proceedings and how the Senate intends to handle the articles once they come over from the House, pointing local reporters instead to a “Fox and Friends” interview he gave on Monday morning.
“I think we’ll find out when we come back in session where we are,” he said, signaling that there’d be no decision on a Senate trial until after the holidays.
McConnell also jabbed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) for delaying the transmission of the articles. Pelosi has indicated she would send the articles over once she knows how the Senate plans to conduct its trial, so she’ll have a better idea of how many impeachment managers to assign to the task. Republicans have seized on this delay as a sign of Democrats getting weak-kneed about their case.
“We can’t take up a matter we don’t have, so hopefully they’ll be on the way over at some point,” he said.
When asked about how impeachment proceedings might impact his next election, McConnell was honest: “Who knows,” he said.
Last week the leader of the upper chamber told reporters that he and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) were at an impasse over how to handle impeachment. Schumer sent a letter to colleagues on Monday, saying he wanted four witnesses to speak at a robust Senate trial and requested documents relevant to Ukraine be provided as well. McConnell has indicated he doesn’t want Democrats or Republicans to call in witnesses, but he says his caucus has not quite reached a decision. That indication appears to be in contrast with what President Trump has publicly claimed he’d like to see.
