WASHINGTON (AP) – Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Wednesday rejected a Democratic attempt to swiftly call the Senate into emergency session to hold an impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, all but assuring that those proceedings won’t occur until after Trump leaves office.
The decision came even as a GOP strategist said the Kentucky Republican has told people he thinks Trump perpetrated impeachable offenses. McConnell also sees House Democrats’ drive to impeach Trump as an opportune moment to distance the GOP from the tumultuous, divisive outgoing president, said the strategist, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe private conversations.
McConnell’s souring on Trump is significant because as Washington’s most powerful Republican once Democrat Joe Biden is inaugurated next week, his view could make it easier for other GOP lawmakers to turn against the outgoing president. The New York Times first reported McConnell’s view on Tuesday.
The Senate is currently in recess and isn’t scheduled to return to hold a business session until Jan. 19, the day before Biden’s inauguration. By law, the Senate can be summoned to return for an emergency session if the two party leaders, McConnell and Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., agree to do so.
Schumer has called for an emergency Senate meeting so it can remove Trump from office before his term expires, citing potential, unpredictable problems that Trump could cause.