Pelosi’s Delaying Games Generate Growing Democratic Backlash
SENATE MAJORITY LEADER MITCH McCONNELL (R-KY): “Now, this is a challenging time to create bipartisan agreement in the Senate. On any subject. But the Speaker of the House has managed to do the impossible. She has created this growing bipartisan unity in the United States Senate… in opposition to her own reckless behavior. Senators may not agree on much, but it appears most of us still recognize a threat to our institution when we see one. Article I, Section 3 says: ‘The Senate shall have the sole power to try all impeachments.’ Period. The House can begin the process, and Speaker Pelosi’s majority has certainly done that. But the Senate alone can resolve it. And yet for weeks now, the House majority has blocked the Senate from fulfilling our constitutional duty. In a precedent-breaking display of partisanship, the Speaker has refused to let her own allegations proceed normally to trial unless she gets to hand-design various elements of our Senate process.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 1/09/2020)
- SEN. McCONNELL: “Supposedly, the explanation for this shameless game-playing is that Speaker Pelosi wanted ‘leverage’ to reach into the Senate and dictate our trial proceedings to us. I’ve made clear from the beginning that no such ‘leverage’ exists. It’s nonexistent. And [Tuesday] we made it clear it will never exist.” (Sen. McConnell, Remarks, 1/08/2020)
The Hill: “McConnell takes round one in impeachment battle”(“McConnell Takes Round One In Impeachment Battle,” The Hill, 1/07/2020)
- “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has won round one of the Senate impeachment fight, announcing Tuesday that he has the votes to adopt rules ... Now the pressure is on Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) to send the articles of impeachment to the Senate, even though there isn’t a bipartisan deal on how to proceed.” (“McConnell Takes Round One In Impeachment Battle,” The Hill, 1/07/2020)
- “Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell rebuffed Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s demands for him to immediately sketch out the procedure for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, dragging out the stalemate between the two congressional leaders and leaving no end in sight.” (“McConnell Rejects Pelosi’s Request For Impeachment Trial Demands,” Politico, 1/08/2020)
- “Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, insisted on Wednesday that Speaker Nancy Pelosi accept his terms for President Trump’s impeachment trial and promptly deliver the charges from the House, as a growing number of Senate Democrats signaled that they, too, were eager to begin the proceeding.” (“McConnell, Rebuffing Pelosi, Declines To Budge On Impeachment Trial Terms,” The New York Times, 1/08/2020)
ABC News: “Pelosi under pressure from Democrats to deliver impeachment charges to Senate” (“Pelosi Under Pressure From Democrats To Deliver Impeachment Charges To Senate,” ABC News, 1/09/2020)
- “House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Thursday faced new pressure from Democrats to deliver the House impeachment articles to the Senate in order to begin President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, after a week's long standoff with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell over the terms of the Senate proceedings…. A growing number of Senate Democrats called on Pelosi to name impeachment managers to deliver the charges to the Senate …” (“Pelosi Under Pressure From Democrats To Deliver Impeachment Charges To Senate,” ABC News, 1/09/2020)
- “Democrats are finally acknowledging that their efforts to extract concessions from Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial are coming to an end. Though Speaker Nancy Pelosi is still withholding the House’s impeachment articles from the Senate, Democrats’ hopes of swaying the GOP leader have dimmed after McConnell secured the votes in his caucus to move forward…”(“Senate Democrats Break With Pelosi Over Impeachment Trial,” Politico, 1/08/2020)
- “Still, there is an emerging consensus that Pelosi’s request on Tuesday for McConnell to further lay out his plans for the trial showed that the Democratic tactics are no longer producing results.” (“Senate Democrats Break With Pelosi Over Impeachment Trial,” Politico, 1/08/2020)
- “Pelosi is holding on to the articles despite some impatience from Democrats in the Senate, who say they are ready to begin a trial. It’s unclear how much longer Pelosi will hold off, and what she hopes to accomplish through further delay…” (“Pressure Building On Pelosi Over Articles Of Impeachment,” The Hill, 1/08/2020)
- “A growing number of Senate Democrats on Wednesday called on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to send articles of impeachment to the Senate, while Republicans seized on their remarks to ramp up pressure on the California Democrat. The developments came as Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) accused Pelosi of ‘shameless game-playing’ for vowing not to send over the articles until she has seen the proposed rules for a trial of President Trump.” (“More Democrats Say Pelosi Should Send Over Articles As Mcconnell Accuses Speaker Of ‘Shameless Game-Playing,’” The Washington Post, 1/08/2020)
- “A growing number of Senate Democrats are calling for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D., Calif.) to send over the articles of impeachment against President Trump, saying the party had little to gain from further delay.” (“Some Democratic Senators Call On Pelosi To Send Over Articles Of Impeachment,” The Wall Street Journal, 1/08/2020)
The Hill: “Democratic senators growing impatient with Pelosi on impeachment” (“Democratic Senators Growing Impatient With Pelosi On Impeachment,” The Hill, 1/08/2020)
Axios: “Growing number of Senate Democrats want Pelosi to send impeachment articles” (“Growing Number Of Senate Democrats Want Pelosi To Send Impeachment Articles,” Axios, 1/09/2020)
House Democrats: ‘There Can’t Be An Indefinite Delay,’ ‘I Think It’s Time’
CNN’s JOHN BERMAN: “Is it time, Chairman?”
REP. ADAM SMITH (D-WA), House Armed Services Committee Chairman: “I think it is…. [A]t the end of the day, just like we control it in the House, Mitch McConnell controls it in the Senate. I think it was perfectly advisable for the Speaker to try to leverage that to get a better deal. At this point it doesn’t look like that’s going to happen and yes, I think it is time to send the impeachment to the Senate …” (CNN’s “New Day,” 1/09/2020)
REP. DUTCH RUPPERSBERGER (D-MD): “There gets to be a time that, I think, you might as well move forward with the process because things are evolving to a point that people will not even understand where we are, what we did … How much longer will Nancy have that leverage? It seems she’s starting to lose that leverage, so let’s move ahead with the process.” (The Washington Post, 1/09/2020)
REP. JAMIE RASKIN (D-MD): “There can’t be an indefinite delay. Obviously there’s a constitutional and political clock ticking at this point. We’re very eager to see that things move forward.” (CNN’s Manu Raju, @mkraju, Twitter, 1/09/2020)
REP. BEN McADAMS (D-UT): “I think it’s time.” (The Washington Post, 1/09/2020)
- “Another House Democrat broke with Pelosi on withholding the articles of impeachment, as Rep. Ben McAdams (Utah) said he believes the speaker should go ahead and send them to the Senate.” (The Washington Post, 1/09/2020)
SEN. DIANNE FEINSTEIN (D-CA): “The longer it goes on the less urgent it becomes…. So if it’s serious and urgent, send them over. If it isn’t, don’t send it over.” (“Senate Democrats Break With Pelosi Over Impeachment Trial,” Politico, 1/08/2020)
- SEN. FEINSTEIN: “If we’re going to do it, she should send them over…. I don’t see what good delay does.” (“Pelosi Under Pressure From Democrats To Deliver Impeachment Charges To Senate,” ABC News, 1/09/2020)
- “Asked if colleagues are starting to get impatient, Feinstein said, ‘If it’s going to happen, yes,’ referring to the likelihood of a trial taking place.” (“Pressure Building On Pelosi Over Articles Of Impeachment,” The Hill, 1/08/2020)
- SEN. BLUMENTHAL: “We were ready on the day the articles were voted to conduct the trial…. At some point, it’s appropriate to send them and in effect pass the baton to senators …” (“Senate Democrats Break With Pelosi Over Impeachment Trial,” Politico, 1/08/2020)
- SEN. MURPHY: “… I would hope she sends them over sooner rather than later.” (“The Mood On Capitol Hill: Let’s Just Get To The Senate Impeachment Trial,” CNN, 1/07/2020)
MSNBC’s ANDREA MITCHELL: “… is it time for Nancy Pelosi to send over the articles of impeachment and go ahead with it?”
SEN. ANGUS KING (I-ME): “I think it is time for the Speaker to send the articles over. I think -- I don’t think her holding them puts any particular pressure on Mitch McConnell. I think the key vote will come in the middle of the trial.” (MSNBC’s “Andrea Mitchell Reports,” 1/07/2020)
SEN. DOUG JONES (D-AL): “I’m hoping they will come over here soon. I think most people are ready to get moving on this.” (“The Mood On Capitol Hill: Let’s Just Get To The Senate Impeachment Trial,” CNN, 1/07/2020)
“The rules are going to be what they are…. She should know that now, so let’s just go ahead and see what we’ve got.” (“Pressure Building On Pelosi Over Articles Of Impeachment,” The Hill, 1/08/2020)
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