House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is sitting on the Democrats’ articles of impeachment against President Trump, a move many Senate Republicans have called “reckless” and “dangerous.”
At first, it appeared they could be right. Public support for impeachment tanked while Trump’s approval ratings rose, and centrist Democrats’ positions in swing districts became even more precarious. But the situation is just as uncomfortable for centrist Republicans in the Senate as it is for centrist Democrats in the House.
One of the side effects of Pelosi’s delay, intended or not, has been to thrust centrist Republicans into the spotlight and force them to declare a position one way or the other. A few of them are beginning to squirm, revealing the first cracks, small as they may be, in the Senate GOP’s defense of Trump.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, expressed unease with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell’s plan for “total coordination” with the White House, telling Anchorage’s NBC affiliate KTUU that she does not like “being hand in glove with the defense.” McConnell’s plans for a speedy trial have “disturbed” her since she has yet to make up her mind on how to vote, she added.
Similarly, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine, offered a muted criticism of McConnell and how he’s handled the Democrats’ requests for witnesses. “Every senator has to decide on his or her own how to approach it,” she said. “That would not be the approach that I would have taken.”
Both Murkowski and Collins have held their cards close to their chests, as has Sen. Mitt Romney. When asked if he would like to hear from the Democrats’ proposed witnesses during the Senate trial, Romney said: “It’s not that I don’t have any point of view; it’s just that I’m not willing to share that point of view till I’ve had the chance to talk to others and get their perspectives.”
But Murkowski did suggest that she opposes the Democrats’ second article of impeachment, which alleges that Trump obstructed Congress by blocking the House’s subpoena requests. “If the House truly believed that they had information that was going to be important, they subpoena them, and if they ignore the subpoena as they did, at the direction of the White House, then that next step is to go to the courts,” Murkowski explained.
The longer Pelosi’s delay continues, the more attention these centrists will face. The Democrats believe Murkowski, Collins, and Romney are pivotal votes, and, thus, the questions will continue and the pressure will mount on them.
Pelosi might not have leverage over McConnell, who couldn’t care less if the articles never make it to the Senate. But she does know how to work his most vulnerable members — and for right now, that’s enough.
