House Democrats Weigh A Move To Delay Senate Impeachment Trial

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi departs a press conference following the impeachment vote in the House of Representatives against President Trump Wednesday evening.

By Claudia Grisales, Deirdre Walsh

December 18, 2019

Updated December 19, 2019

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi declined to say when she will transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate, telling reporters she is waiting to see what process is established in the Senate for a trial.

Pelosi told reporters Wednesday evening after the House approved a resolution with two articles of impeachment that she is waiting to determine who the "impeachment managers" will be – the prosecution team for the House Democrats' case in the Senate trial – until she sees what parameters are for the Senate trial.

Pelosi pushed back when asked if she was contemplating not sending the resolution with the two articles of impeachment over at all, saying "I never raised that possibility."

Before the vote, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., was asked about the prospect of the House withholding the articles and told the Washington Examiner, he's "in no hurry."

Pelosi is expected to hold her weekly press conference Thursday morning.

McConnell and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y, are expected to meet soon to try to negotiate a resolution that will set out the process for the Senate trial. In recent days, McConnell has also said he is closely coordinating with the White House to plan out a potential trial.

Before Wednesday's impeachment vote, a handful of House members considered "withholding the articles" to try to force concessions from McConnell and others on their trial plan.

Some House Democrats considered whether hitting the pause button before the lower chamber transmits the articles of impeachment to the Senate was the right move in the wake of increasing talk of acquitting President Trump in a trial.

"If you basically have the leader of the Senate saying I'm going to negotiate completely with the defendant here ... that makes a mockery of the whole process," said California Democratic Rep. Jackie Speier, a member of the House Intelligence Committee. "I think by withholding, you try to negotiate their participation and witnesses... It's leverage because [Trump] can't say I'm totally exonerated by the Senate."

The discussion comes as Senate Republicans have ramped up talks to hold a quick trial in January that will allow Trump to present a robust defense and would end in his acquittal. Trump and White House officials have also kicked up their Senate outreach with Republican members, inviting them for weekly luncheon or other meetings in recent months.

Only a handful of Senate Republicans, including Sens. Lisa Murkowski, R-Ala., Susan Collins, R-Maine and Mitt Romney, R-Utah, have maintained they would like to remain impartial jurors in the process.

Connecticut Democrat Rep. Jim Himes, another member of the House Intelligence Committee, defended the idea of holding the impeachment articles back from the Senate.

"When Mitch McConnell publicly abrogates his duty to be a fair juror I think there is a cause ...to take a step back and ask is this the moment to transmit it to the Senate," Himes said.

House Minority Leader Steny Hoyer wasn't ready to give his thoughts on the idea, but said it's under talks now.

"It's being discussed," Hoyer said. "I think it's an interesting idea and we are going to discuss it."

New Jersey Democratic Rep. Tom Malinowski, a member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said he's heard more about the proposal on social media than on Capitol Hill, but he's not ruling it out as option quite yet.

"I've been hearing it all over Twitter," Malinowski said. "I'm thinking about it."