After nearly a month of delay, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has agreed to send the Democrats’ articles of impeachment to the Senate. She will do so as soon as next week.
Pelosi had little choice but to release the articles, which accuse President Trump of abusing his power and obstructing Congress. Pelosi tried to use the delay as leverage to force Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell to agree to the Democrats’ proposed trial rules. But McConnell refused, and Senate Democrats simply do not have the votes to work around him.
Even Senate Democrats had begun to express frustration with the dawdling. “Time plays an unknown role in all of this, and the longer it goes on, the less the urgency becomes. So if it’s serious and urgent, it should come over. If it isn’t, don’t send it over,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein of California, the ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee.
Sen. Jon Tester of Montana said it’s “unfortunate” Senate Republicans haven’t agreed to allow witnesses to testify during the trial, but “as far as I’m concerned, [Pelosi] can send them over at any time.” Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut agreed: “I think the time has passed,” he said. “She should send the articles over.”
There’s a reason the Democrats are eager to begin the trial: The longer they wait, the more illegitimate their case against the president looks. If Trump is an immediate threat to governance, as the Democrats have alleged, then why are they unwilling to prosecute the case against him immediately?
Voters certainly haven’t been convinced. A growing number of independents in important swing states oppose impeachment, and vulnerable Democrats up for election this year will be most directly affected.
McConnell had also given Pelosi an ultimatum: Allow the trial to move forward or be left behind. He announced last week that he has enough votes to pass a resolution that would set up phase one of the trial with or without the Democrats’ approval, and many Senate Democrats believe they’ll have a better chance at securing witness testimony after the trial begins. A few centrist Senate Republicans, namely Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Mitt Romney of Utah, have even suggested they would support such a move — but only after the trial begins.
Senate Republicans have said they will begin the trial almost immediately after the articles of impeachment are delivered. Pelosi must assign House managers, U.S. Chief Justice John Roberts must administer the oath of office to each senator, and Trump’s defense team must deliver its answer to the articles of impeachment to the Senate. McConnell has made it clear he wants to expedite the process, but the Senate’s ultimate decision likely won’t be delivered until the end of the month.
All Pelosi did was delay the inevitable. The Republican-controlled Senate will almost certainly vote to acquit Trump, with or without witness testimony. Some Democrats have argued Pelosi successfully used the delay to draw attention to McConnell’s “unfair” political maneuvering.
But this was a spectacular failure, and Pelosi knows it. Now, at least, everyone can move forward.
