DemDaily: Senate Silences Witnesses. Trial Days Eight & Nine
February 1, 2020
The last two days saw the end of the question and answer phase and the end of Democrats' hope for calling witnesses in the impeachment trial of President Donald J. Trump.
On Friday evening, after day-long deliberations, the Senate voted 51 to 49 to reject witnesses, an unprecedented action in the history of our country's 62 impeachment proceedings involving Presidents, Federal Judges, Supreme Court Justices and Cabinet members.
(MSNBC video/DemList)
Outside the Senate chamber, Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said, "To not allow a witness, a document, no witnesses, no documents in an impeachment trial is a perfidy. It's a grand tragedy, one of the worst tragedies that the Senate has ever overcome. America will remember this day, unfortunately, when the senate did not live up to its responsibilities, when the Senate turned away from truth and went along with a sham trial."
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According to a January 22 - 27, 2020 Quinnipiac University poll, 75% of registered voters believed
that witnesses should be allowed to testify in the impeachment trial. Support for witness testimony includes 49% of Republicans, 95% of Democrats, and 75% of independents. |
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) also successfully blocked four other proposed amendments regarding witnesses and documents, which the Senate voted to table, or dismiss, largely along party lines. Collins and Romney joined Democrats on the two of the amendments related to calling John Bolton.
Next Up
Monday begins the final phase of thetrial, with closing arguments beginning at 11:00am, for four hours equally divided between the House Managers and the President's defense team. Deliberations will follow through Tuesday when Senators have the opportunity to deliver individual speeches on the floor.
| President Trump will deliver the annual State of the Union address Tuesday night at 9:00pm ET, the night before the Senate is scheduled to vote on the Articles of Impeachment. |
A buoyant Mitch McConnell leaves the floor after the vote on witnesses (Applewhite/AP)
The only remaining drama is whether certain moderate Democrats in red states will vote with Republicans, including Doug Jones (AL), Joe Manchin (WV) and Kyrsten Sinema (AZ).
Like endangered Republicans in blue or battleground states, their vote could impact their reelections in November, and, potentially, control of the US Senate.
In addition to Collins, GOP Senators Tom Tillis (NC), Cory Gardner (CO) and Martha McSally (AZ) are top targets for flipping.
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Sources: Politico, The Hill, Wikipedia
