GOP Leadership Memo Suggests Senate Cannot Block Trial If House Votes To Impeach Trump
There is no way we could somehow bar the doors and prevent the managers from presenting the articles of impeachment, states the memo.
By Mary Papenfuss
Huffington Post
09/28/2019 08:05 pm ET
The Republican leadership issued a memo Saturday clarifying that the Senate must take action if the House of Representatives approves articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump. The statement came in response to concerns that the Senate could simply refuse to hold a trial.
There is no way we could somehow bar the doors and prevent the managers from presenting the articles to the Senate, stated the memo, which was obtained by HuffPost. The rules of impeachment are clear on this point.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) also said as much in a March interview with NPR: If it [impeachment] were to happen, the Senate has no choice. If the House were to act, the Senate immediately goes into a trial.
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Poster comment:
Then, of course, 11 articles of impeachment were approved by the House against President Andrew Johnson in 1868 and forwarded to the Senate. A trial occurred. A vote was taken on one of the articles and it failed. A few days later, a vote was taken on two more articles and both failed. Ben Wade and the other radicals skulked off and the remaining 8 articles are still waiting for a Senate vote.
"Going into a trial" is not the same thing as voting for guilty or not guilty. Apparently, that could take centuries.