Republicans, feeling increasingly confident the Senate will not vote to call new witnesses in the president’s impeachment trial, began plotting a path to acquittal perhaps as early as Friday.
“It does look to me like we are headed toward ending this week sometime,” Sen. Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican and a member of the GOP leadership team, said Thursday.
The second phase of the trial was set to conclude Thursday night when lawmakers finished 16 hours of questioning the House impeachment managers and Trump’s defense team.
Republican senators will meet privately Friday morning before the trial convenes again at 1 p.m.
They will map out the quickest route to ending the Senate trial, which on Friday will conclude a second week.
When the trial convenes, impeachment managers and defense lawyers will each have two hours to present final arguments before the Senate takes a pivotal vote on whether to end the trial or call additional witnesses.
A vote to call witnesses is now considered unlikely, Republicans told the Washington Examiner.
Three Republicans are seriously weighing a vote to call witnesses, but the vast majority of GOP senators want the trial to end this week.
“I don’t think there is anything more than needs to be said,” Sen. Pat Roberts, a Republican of Kansas, told the Washington Examiner.
Sen. Thom Tillis, a North Carolina Republican, said constituents want the Senate to be working on legislation to address economic issues, national security, and the threat of the coronavirus.
“This is not on top of mind,” Tillis said. “They are over this issue.”
Republicans control 53 votes. Even if three Republicans vote for witnesses, a 50-50 tie would block new witness testimony and allow a motion to vote on the two articles of impeachment.
Trump is charged with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. His acquittal is all but guaranteed because it takes 67 votes to convict the president on either of the articles.
“I am interested in getting to the finish line tomorrow, whether that will be with the number of two, three, or four, that remains to be seen,” Sen. Mike Braun, a Republican of Indiana, said, referring to the number of wavering Republicans who will ultimately vote with their own party against calling new witnesses.
If the Senate votes against calling new witnesses, McConnell may move quickly to a final vote on the two articles.
Senior Republican aides say McConnell is eager to move as quickly as possible to end the trial, so it is possible he’ll introduce a motion to vote on the articles.
McConnell could decide to take a longer approach and hold a vote on a resolution about the final phase of the trial that would first require two hours of debate.
If the vote to call witnesses falls short, as is expected, Democrats have promised to bring up more motions to call witnesses, which would require votes to table.
The uncertainty has left senators with no idea about when the trial would end on Friday or whether proceedings would drag into Saturday or beyond.
Roberts, who is retiring, is hoping to attend an event in his honor on Saturday.
“I have about 1,000 people out in Kansas who are celebrating Pat Roberts’s 40 years of public service, and I’d like to go,” Roberts said.
