Politics

2 Moderate GOP Senators Agree on Starting Impeachment Trial Without Voting on Witnesses

Two Republican senators aligned themselves with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in re..

Published

January 7, 2020

Two Republican senators aligned themselves with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) in recent days, saying they approve of his plan to vote on initial impeachment trial guidelines while waiting to vote on the issue of witnesses until later in the process.

The Senate is expected to hold an impeachment trial after the House of Representatives impeached President Donald Trump last month.

“I think we need to do what they did the last time they did this … and that was to go through a first phase, and then they reassessed after that,” Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) told reporters Monday after leaving McConnells office in Washington.

“I think what we need to do is get to the first step.”

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), another moderate Republican considered a possibility to side with Democrats on trial guidelines, also said Monday she approves of McConnells plan.

Collins made a similar statement on Dec. 31, 2019, telling Maine Public Radio: “I am open to witnesses. I think its premature to decide who should be called until we see the evidence that is presented and get the answers to the questions that we senators can submit through the chief justice to both sides.”

“I think that the model and the precedent established by the trial for President Clinton is one that our leaders should take a hard look at,” she said.

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), another possible swing vote, told reporters on Monday he wants to hear from former National Security Adviser John Bolton but said hed leave it up to Senate leaders to decide on the trial process.

Asked about Bolton potentially testifying, Murkowski said, “I think first we have to get to basically the first phase, which is having articles to deal with.”

Collins added to reporters about Bolton, “There are a number of witnesses that may well be appropriate for the Stage 3, of which he would certainly be one.”

During the impeachment trial against President Bill Clinton, lawmakers heard from the prosecution and defense before submitting questions. They then voted on whether to hear from witnesses and try to get additional documents. The GOP wanted witnesses but most Democrats did not.