Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to hold onto the two articles of impeachment against President Trump, delaying a Senate trial by a month, won only subdued praise from Democrats, some of whom were eager for her to drop the tactic.
Other Democrats questioned the move, while Republicans proclaimed that her plan backfired by undercutting the urgency Democrats proclaimed when they impeached Trump on Dec. 19.
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“There is no way to spin it,” Rep. Mark Meadows, a North Carolina Republican and a key Trump ally, said Friday. “Speaker Pelosi and her Democrat Caucus spent weeks playing games with what is effectively their attempt at overturning an American election.”
Democrats mostly defended Pelosi, including those who were eager to start the trial.
“I think she’s done very well with it,” said Sen. Dianne Feinstein, a California Democrat and longtime Pelosi friend.
Feinstein was among several Democrats in Congress this week to call on Pelosi to send the articles to the Senate so lawmakers in the upper chamber can start a trial likely to last several weeks.
“If we’re going to do it, she should send them over,” Feinstein said earlier this week.
But Feinstein, in a hallway interview, described Pelosi’s tactic as “shrewd” and said she supported Pelosi’s goal of trying to force the Senate to guarantee that the trial includes certain witnesses.
“I’m a great believer in Speaker Pelosi,” Feinstein said.
Some of Pelosi’s own House Democrats were never fully on board with the tactic.
A few were willing to say privately that it made more sense to end the delay and send over the articles so the Senate could take up the case and decide on witnesses once and for all.
“The Senate is either going to have witnesses, which will incriminate the president, or they are going to give it short shrift, which will make them look irresponsible,” a House Democrat, who requested anonymity, said.
House Armed Services Committee Chairman Adam Smith, a Democrat from Washington, told CNN on Thursday that Pelosi should end the delay and send over the articles.
But he quickly backtracked after hearing from constituents.
“I misspoke this morning,” Smith tweeted after the interview. “I do believe we should do everything we can to force the Senate to have a fair trial. If the speaker believes that holding on to the articles for a longer time will help force a fair trial in the Senate, then I wholeheartedly support that decision.”
Most of the intraparty pressure on Pelosi came from Democrats in the Senate, where a handful of lawmakers joined Feinstein in expressing their desire for Pelosi to send over the articles so senators could hold the trial.
“We are ready, willing, and able,” said Sen. Richard Blumenthal, a Connecticut Democrat.
House Democrats voted last month to impeach Trump on two articles accusing him of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Pelosi delayed sending the articles to try to force the Senate GOP to agree to summon key Trump administration witnesses who have information about the decision to delay sending Ukraine $391 million in security aid.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, said the delay was worth it for the party even though it did not force the GOP to agree to their witness list. The extra time, Schumer said, allowed for “a cascade of evidence” to surface, including a trove of Trump administration emails surrounding the decision to withhold security aid from Ukraine.
During the delay, former national security adviser John Bolton, one of the witnesses sought by Democrats, announced he would agree to testify if called.
“I think she’s done a very, very good job, and it’s helped our case.” Schumer said.
