Nancy Pelosi Finally Agrees To Send Articles of Impeachment To The Senate

Politico has more to say on Pelosi's decision:

Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced Friday she will send the articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate next week, ending a heated standoff with Republicans over the terms of the impeachment trial.

 

"I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate," Pelosi said in a letter to House Democrats.

                                                                                        

Pelosi added she will talk to the caucus at their weekly meeting Tuesday morning on “how to proceed further.” 

                

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) — having already secured GOP votes for his preferred trial framework — could start the impeachment trial shortly after he receives the articles.

 

Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) had sought to pressure Republicans into accepting new witnesses and evidence in a bid to ensure a fair trial, but McConnell ultimately rebuffed them.

 

McConnell said Friday that he was "glad" the articles of impeachment were finally being sent to the Senate. 

 

"We've been anxious to get started ... how many weeks has it been now?” McConnell told reporters. "It's been a long wait, I'm glad it's over."

 

McConnell, who replied "not really" when asked if he'd spoken with Pelosi, didn't specify when he plans to introduce his resolution for the terms of the Senate impeachment trial.

"We have to get the articles first and hopefully then — looks like they're now coming over at long last," he said.

 

McConnell told Senate Republicans Thursday he was expecting Pelosi to send over the articles of impeachment as soon as Friday, teeing up a Senate trial to possibly start next week. 

CNBC also said:

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Friday that she will send articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate next week.

“I have asked Judiciary Committee Chairman Jerry Nadler to be prepared to bring to the Floor next week a resolution to appoint managers and transmit articles of impeachment to the Senate,” Pelosi wrote to House colleagues.

Impeachment managers are House members who essentially act as prosecutors in a Senate trial of the president. Before the articles can be delivered to the Senate, the managers need to be agreed to by a House vote.

Friday’s letter sets up the prospect of a multiweek impeachment trial of Trump to begin in the Senate later this month.

It also poses a dilemma for the five senators seeking the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination. The Iowa caucuses are on Feb. 3, and spending several weeks in Washington, not Iowa, right before the caucus could put their campaigns at a disadvantage.

Pelosi’s announcement was made amid mounting pressure on her, not only from Republicans, but increasingly from fellow Democrats to deliver the articles. Once they’ve been received, the Senate can begin preparations for a trial.

On Thursday, Pelosi told reporters she still needed to see how the Senate would conduct a trial, before she agreed to transfer the articles. “We want to see what they’re willing to do, and the manner in which they will do it,” she said.

By Friday, her calculus appeared to have shifted, although she did not directly explain why in her letter. “I am very proud of the courage and patriotism exhibited by [House Democrats] as we support and defend the Constitution,” she wrote, adding that she would “be consulting” with her caucus next week “on how we proceed further.”