Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) blasted impeachment-driven Democrats on Thursday for neglecting their duties as they pursue impeachment, noting that they are “too busy inviting law professors to criticize President Trump on television” to do their jobs.
McConnell, who has signaled that an impeachment trial in the Senate would not lead to Trump’s removal from office, responded to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) impeachment announcement on Thursday by blasting Democrats for shirking their legislative duties to “advance her rushed & partisan impeachment process.”
“This morning, Speaker Pelosi delivered a speech to advance her rushed & partisan impeachment process. Not one word on the outstanding legislation the American people actually need,” McConnell wrote, mentioning the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade deal and National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA).
He continued:
Nothing on the USMCA, or the NDAA, or funding for our armed forces. Only in Washington D.C. does anybody think it’s okay for our armed forces to go unfunded and a major trade deal to go unpassed because Democrats are too busy inviting law professors to criticize President Trump on television. The Kentuckians I represent cannot believe our commanders are being denied certainty, our men & women in uniform are being denied stable funding, & 176K new American jobs are being held up because Democrats see more political advantage in obstruction than in doing their jobs.
His remarks followed Pelosi’s announcement, officially asking House Judiciary Committee chairman Jerry Nadler (D-NY) to proceed with articles of impeachment:
Many Democrat members of Congress celebrated her announcement on social media, while members of the GOP slammed the speaker for asserting that the facts are “uncontested”:
McConnell expressed his doubts that an impeachment trial in the Senate would lead to Trump’s removal.
“It looks to me like the House is determined to impeach the president. I can’t imagine a scenario under which President Trump would be removed from office with 67 votes in the Senate,” he told reporters last month.
“So I don’t know how long senators will want to continue the trial, but I’m pretty confident at the end impeachment will not lead to ouster,” he added: