Three Republican senators, Mitt Romney of Utah, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, and Susan Collins of Maine, are Democrats’ best hope for obtaining their preferred rules for President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, Vox reports.
Democrats need to get four Republicans onto their side in order to pass rules for impeachment, since Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said any resolution that ends up 50-50 would fail.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., told reporters in December that “even if McConnell doesn't want it, I expect at least four Republicans will be for witnesses.”
Earlier this year, Romney, Collins and Murkowski all declined to sign a GOP-led resolution condemning the House impeachment inquiry, making them prime targets for Democrats looking for votes. Politico reports that Democrats are also looking at Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., as a possible vote for their side.
Romney tweeted in October that “By all appearances, the President’s brazen and unprecedented appeal to China and to Ukraine to investigate Joe Biden is wrong and appalling.”
Collins said more recently that she disagreed with McConnell’s decision to cooperate with the White House and his vow to acquit Trump.
“I would not have done that,” Collins said. “But Sen. Schumer’s move is such a typical, inappropriate approach that it indicates that he’s not really sincerely interested in negotiation.”
Theodore Bunker ✉
Theodore Bunker, a Newsmax writer, has more than a decade covering news, media, and politics.
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