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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell surprised many today when he abruptly eased off of earlier impeachment trial rules. Rather than stick to a previously proposed set of rules that would see the impeachment trial last for only two days, McConnell has opted, instead, for an extra day, which will allow for House evidence to be submitted into the trial.
Many aides and Senators were stunned by McConnell’s sudden turnaround, as he had previously indicated a desire to “stick to the script,” wishing to bring the impeachment trial to a swift end in order to get the president’s impeachment out of the spotlight. Previously, McConnell had stated he would be working in “full cooperation” with the White House on impeachment defense.
Impeachment has been a thorn in the side of President Trump, who has bristled at being only the third president to ever be impeached. While many expect Trump to be acquitted by a lack of votes in the Senate to remove him, the sting of having such a dramatic measure brought against him has led to several Twitter outbursts from the President.
Trump has repeatedly referred to the phone call that sparked the impeachment inquiry as “perfect,” claiming that there was no quid pro quo in his dealings with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. The House, however, saw things differently, stating that Trump withheld important military funds to Ukraine in order to pressure the Eastern European nation into investigating his political rival, Joe Biden’s, son.
McConnell’s reversal of the earlier proposed trial guidelines could indicate that the White House and the Senate aren’t as aligned as previously indicated. The White House defense team, largely aware of the optics of the trial, wished to condense the proceedings into two short days, and to move most of the important hearings to nighttime.
Many in the prosecution, including House prosecution leader Adam Schiff, decried the proposed midnight hearings, stating that they would keep Americans in the dark. The time of the hearings, coupled with the inability of the prosecution to introduce evidence from the House impeachment inquiry, struck the prosecution as smacking of a “rigged” process.
No president has ever been removed from office by the Senate. It’s unlikely that Trump will either. However, that Congress got this close to removing him at all is a testament to the unusual nature of American politics in 2020.
