Live updates: GOP Sen. Murkowski, who called for Trump to resign, says House right to impeach
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— Rebecca Morin
GOP Sen. Murkowski, who called for Trump’s resignation, says House right to impeach
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, said the House was right to impeach President Trump but wouldn’t say how she will vote on the charge against him when the case is brought before the Senate.
Murkowski, one of several congressional Republicans who have called for the president to resign, said she would listen to the case brought before the Senate — noting the stark differences to Trump’s last impeachment.
“This second impeachment stands in stark contrast to what we faced last January—an impeachment that was partisan from the beginning and left no opportunity for a fair trial in the Senate,” Murkowski said of the bipartisan condemnation Wednesday of the president’s role in the violence at the U.S. Capitol. “Such unlawful actions cannot go without consequence and the House has responded swiftly, and I believe, appropriately, with impeachment.”
Murkowski, a key swing vote in the Senate, voted to acquit Trump last year during his first impeachment after being eyed as one of the possible Republican defectors. Only one Republican, Sen. Mitt Romney, voted in favor of either of the two impeachment charges.
Like last year, Murkowski vowed to keep an open mind and hear the arguments presented by both sides before announcing how she will vote.
“When the Article of Impeachment comes to the Senate, I will follow the oath I made when sworn as a U.S. Senator,” she said. “I will listen carefully and consider the arguments of both sides, and will then announce how I will vote.”
Murkowski isn’t the only Republican who could vote to convict Trump. Several GOP senators have condemned Trump’s role in the violence at the Capitol and left open the possibility of voting with Democrats. That includes Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, who told fellow Republicans Wednesday he had not decided how he would vote on Trump’s impeachment charge — a stark contrast to last year when the Kentucky Republican worked with the White House to help in the president’s eventual acquittal.
— Christal Hayes
2 members of Congress ask for cots for National Guardsmen at the Capitol
Two members of the House of Representatives wrote Thursday to Army Secretary Ryan McCarthy asking for the Pentagon to provide cots for service members to rest on while off duty.
“With the uncertainty for needed rest and recoup time in flux, and to ensure that the Guard members are fully able to execute their protection mission, we urge you to make available cots or other equipment to more easily facilitate their ability to rest while they are on Capitol grounds,” wrote Rep. Rosa DeLauro, D-Conn., and Rep. Betty McCollum, D-Minn.
The two lawmakers said they were “disappointed” by images in the media of soldiers sleeping on the floor in the Capitol in between shifts. USA TODAY and other media outlets posted photos of National Guardsmen bivouacked in the Capitol following last week’s riot. DeLauro and McCollum expressed concern after a call with top Army personnel that not all Guard personnel had secured lodging for themselves, and that Washington, D.C.’s convention center may be used to house soldiers.
— Nicholas Wu
the House voted Wednesday to charge the outgoing president with inciting the insurrection at the Capitol that left five people dead.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Wednesday that the chamber could take up the issue at its “first regular meeting following receipt of the article from the House.” But he said a trial couldn’t be held before Trump’s term expires at noon Jan. 20. The Senate next meets on Tuesday.
“Even if the Senate process were to begin this week and move promptly, no final verdict would be reached until after President Trump had left office,” McConnell said.
Senators must first receive the article of impeachment House lawmakers approved Wednesday – and there’s no telling how long they’ll wait.
The Senate must move directly to the trial once it receives the article. But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., declined repeatedly to respond to questions about when she would send the article to the Senate. She signed the formal version of the article Wednesday evening, but didn’t answer questions.
It’s possible the trial could occur during the first days of President-elect Joe Biden’s presidency, which begins with his inauguration Wednesday, though unlikely before then.
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Since the House passed just one article of impeachment, rather than the two the chamber passed during Trump’s first impeachment in 2019, a Senate trial could be shorter, said a source familiar with the impeachment trial plans, but who wasn’t authorized to speak publicly. The source added that witnesses would likely be part of the trial but cautioned that lawmakers were just beginning their work and would be having daily meetings to discuss strategy.
The 100-member Senate will be divided equally between the parties after two Georgia Democrats, who won runoff elections, are sworn in. Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., will become majority leader because Vice President-elect Kamala Harris will break ties.
Schumer said a trial could start immediately if Republicans agreed.
“But make no mistake, there will be an impeachment trial in the United States Senate,” Schumer said.
One reason Democrats want to hold a trial even after Trump leaves office is to bar him from future office, if he’s convicted. But conviction requires two-thirds –or 67 votes – in the closely divided Senate.
“The president of the United States incited a violent mob against the duly elected government of the United States in a vicious, depraved and desperate attempt to remain in power,” Schumer said. “For the sake of our democracy, it cannot and must not be tolerated, excused, or go unpunished.”
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House Democratic leaders have offered different strategies about whether to send the article immediately or hold it until after Biden has a chance to get Cabinet nominees confirmed and legislation started.
House Majority Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said the article would be sent quickly. But House Majority Whip Jim Clyburn, D-S.C., said it could wait until after the first 100 days of the Biden administration.
The House voted 232 to 197 to impeach Trump. Ten Republicans joined the Democratic effort – including Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third-ranking House Republican – making it the most bipartisan impeachment in history.
“I would hope that they would act as soon as possible,” Hoyer said. “The speaker is talking to Mr. Schumer, and we’ll determine that.”
In preparation for the trial, Pelosi named the lawmakers who will serve as prosecutors at the trial, called managers. Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., who was previously a constitutional law professor, will lead the prosecution.
Other managers are Democratic Reps. David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Diana DeGette of Colorado, Joaquin Castro of Texas, Eric Swalwell of California, Ted Lieu of California, Joe Neguse of Colorado, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania and Stacey Plaskett, a delegate from the Virgin Islands.
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Swalwell, Castro and Dean huddled with Pelosi after she signed the article Wednesday to discuss aspects of the trial, including timing.
“We’re discussing that now,” Castro said. “We’ll get it over to the Senate and I’m looking forward to making a case on Donald Trump.”
Dean didn’t support the Senate starting its impeachment trial Wednesday – the first day when the chamber could theoretically act, but also the day of Biden’s inauguration.
“I don’t want to preview it, but certainly not,” Dean said. “We have a president and a vice president to swear in.”
Contributing: Christal Hayes
