AP Photo/Andrew Harnik
President Donald Trump, right, accompanied by House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., speaks to members of the media as they arrive for a dinner at Trump International Golf Club in West Palm Beach, Fla., Sunday, Jan. 14, 2018.
- Republicans are claiming that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is meddling in the 2020 primaries.
- They say Pelosi is attempting to boost former Vice President Joe Biden by pushing the Senate impeachment trial later into primary season and forcing Biden's competitors who are senators to miss out on campaigning.
- House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy argued Pelosi is intentionally "clearing the decks for Joe Biden" and "keeping Bernie Sanders at bay," calling the strategy her "dirty little secret."
- Pelosi has delayed sending the impeachment articles to the Senate in an attempt to pressure Republicans, who control the upper chamber, to call witnesses during the trial and otherwise compromise with Democrats on procedure.
- Pelosi officially announced on Tuesday that the House will cast a vote on impeachment managers and on whether to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Wednesday.
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Republicans, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, are claiming that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is meddling in the 2020 presidential primaries.
GOP leaders say Pelosi is attempting to boost former Vice President Joe Biden's 2020 chances by pushing the Senate impeachment trial later into primary season, hurting Biden's top competitors, including Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who will need to pause campaigning in early states to sit through the trial in Washington.
McCarthy said Pelosi is intentionally "clearing the decks for Joe Biden" and "keeping Bernie Sanders at bay," calling the strategy her "dirty little secret."
"Iowa caucus is on Feb 3. Bernie Sanders is in first place. What this does is, this benefits Joe Biden," McCarthy said in a Sunday interview with Fox News.
Republicans appear eager to intensify divisions between Democratic leadership and Sanders' supporters, arguing that, like in 2016, the establishment has it out for Sanders.
"This harms Sen. Sanders, who is in first place and could become their nominee, because he will be stuck in the chair, because Nancy Pelosi held the papers different than what she said to the American public why she had to move so urgently."
Sen. John Corynyn made a similar argument during a Senate floor speech on Monday.
"If you're Joe Biden, Pete Buttigieg, or any other candidate who isn't a member of the Senate, you've got to be glad the Speaker sat on these articles for nearly four weeks," Corynyn said in a statement. "Having your competitors stuck in Washington, literally in their seat, while you're hitting the campaign trail? Well, that seems like a pretty good advantage to me."
Pelosi has delayed sending the impeachment articles to the Senate in an attempt to pressure Republicans, who control the upper chamber, to call witnesses during the trial and otherwise compromise with Democrats on procedure. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced last week that he had the votes to move forward with the trial without guaranteeing witnesses will be called.
Some Democrats began publicly pushing Pelosi to move forward with the trial last week, arguing that delaying it won't help their cause at this point.
Pelosi announced on Tuesday that the House will cast a vote on impeachment managers and on whether to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate on Wednesday.