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- Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told Republican lawmakers that he expects to receive the House of Representatives' articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump as soon as tomorrow, Politico reported.
- He also anticipates that a Senate trial could start as soon as next week.
- House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been withholding the articles since December as Democrats and Republicans duked it out over the terms of the president's trial.
- But after McConnell said this week that he will move ahead with the trial without agreeing to call witnesses, as Democrats demanded, Pelosi came under increasing pressure to release the articles to the Senate.
- McConnell "expects [the articles of impeachment] at some point here very soon," Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told Politico. "I'm not sure he has any specific knowledge, but the gut feeling is that it will come over there tomorrow and set up for a Monday start."
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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has told Republican lawmakers that he expects to receive the House of Representatives' articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump as soon as tomorrow, and anticipates that a Senate trial could start as soon as next week, Politico reported.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been withholding the articles since December, when the House voted to impeach Trump on two counts: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
Pelosi withheld the articles as Democrats and Republicans duked it out over the terms of the president's trial. Several Republican senators, including McConnell, indicated that they would not agree to call witnesses and would not act as impartial jurors in the proceedings.
But Democrats wanted to secure a commitment from McConnell that Republicans, who control the Senate, would conduct a trial that was fair to Democrats and would include witnesses.
On Tuesday, McConnell said he would move forward with a trial without committing right away to calling witnesses because he had enough Republican votes to do so. Instead, he said, the upper chamber will decide on whether to call witnesses once the trial commences, which is similar to what happened during Bill Clinton's impeachment in the 1990s.
Since then, at least six Democratic senators voiced their support for starting a trial and for Pelosi to release the articles to the Senate. On Thursday, the House speaker said she would do so sometime soon.
According to Politico, if Pelosi does transmit the articles to McConnell, most Republicans are now preparing for a trial to start as soon as Monday or Tuesday.
"At lunch, we all heard that. And he says: 'That's my best guess,'" Republican Sen. Mike Braun told the outlet. "Which means that we'd get started next week."
"He expects them at some point here very soon," Republican Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida told Politico. "I'm not sure he has any specific knowledge, but the gut feeling is that it will come over there tomorrow and set up for a Monday start."