Lindsey Graham: We Won’t Let Pelosi ‘Use the Rules of the Senate’ as Leverage over Impeachment Trial 

Although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) said on the chamber floor last week that an impeachment trial for President Donald Trump could not be held without the House’s articles of impeachment, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Lindsey Graham (R-SC) said rules should be changed to block House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) from manipulating how the effort proceeds in the legislative branch.

The Boston Globe reported Graham’s suggestion is motivated by “pressure some Trump allies feel as the president stews over the impeachment delay”:

Graham, a South Carolina Republican, a close ally of Trump, floated the idea of a unilateral GOP move, saying he would work with McConnell to allow the Senate to proceed without the two charges against Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.

‘‘Well, we’re not going to let Nancy Pelosi use the rules of the Senate to her advantage,’’ Graham said on Fox News’s Sunday Morning Futures. 

‘‘My No. 1 goal is to not let the speaker of the House become the majority leader of the Senate. … If we don’t get the articles this week, then we need to take matters into our own hands,” Graham said.

The Globe reported Pelosi is withholding the articles as a favor to Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) as he negotiates with McConnell over calling witnesses to the Senate trial who did not comply with the House’s demand to testify.

“McConnell, however, has refused to budge, scoffing at the strategy and telling Pelosi she can keep the articles if she wants — that he would focus on ‘‘ordinary business’’ in the Senate, including nominations,” the Globe reported.

The Globe suggested in its reporting that Trump is “eager” to get the trial finished — a trial that will most likely result in an acquittal vote.

The Globe reported on the challenges of Graham’s idea:

Senate rules suggest such a move would be difficult, if not impossible. It would take 60 votes to pass a resolution on impeachment outside of a trial and 67 votes to change the impeachment rules. That threshold would require Democratic support, since McConnell has only 53 Republicans — and Democrats would be loath to undercut Pelosi.

The idea could be moot in a matter of days. Multiple Democratic officials expect Pelosi to transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate as soon as this week — though Pelosi’s office said Friday that no decision has been made and declined to detail her plans.

‘‘It’s now been almost three weeks and she hasn’t taken any action,’’ Rep. John Ratcliffe (R-TX) told Fox News. ‘‘She’s let that progressive, socialist, Democratic mob walk her into a box canyon. She’s put a gun to her own head and she’s looking for Mitch McConnell to give her a way out and he’s not going to do that.’’

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