Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reportedly doesn’t have the votes to block witnesses in the impeachment trial, but it’s unlikely he’s squirming. It may sound unsavory to partisans peeved at Democrats trying to remove President Trump from office, but McConnell has a better chance of keeping the Senate by allowing purple-state members to vote to call witnesses and letting the Democrats continue a trial crucial voters have come to disdain.
Barring forensic inculpatory evidence proving that Trump withheld congressionally approved aid from Ukraine with the sole intention of influencing the 2020 election, it’s unlikely that a single Republican will vote to convict and remove Trump from office. Yet just because the conclusion is foregone doesn’t mean that every possible path to getting there results in the same externalities. For Susan Collins, the difference between a trial barring witnesses and one calling them to the stand could be a fifth Senate term. Collins, her reelection bid already harmed by her vote to confirm Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh, could save her crucial seat for McConnell’s Senate by voting for witnesses, preserving her reputation as an independent Republican.
