10-30-2019, 12:46 PM
Snip:
Senate Republicans, with 22 seats up for reelection and their majority up for grabs in 2020, are in a bind over how to defend President Trump from the House impeachment push.
They realize their political fortunes and policy goals are tied to the president, but they also know their best shot at keeping control of the Senate hinges on senators preserving their independent brands.
That means they have to be careful in defending conduct they see as improper; several Senate Republicans say it would be wrong to hold up military aid to Ukraine to gain political leverage, the issue at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.
Senate Republicans on Tuesday took a decidedly cautious approach as a White House witness offered new testimony in the House critical of Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell claimed victory in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to hold a House vote Thursday on impeachment procedures but stopped short of outlining his next moves.
“Obviously they’ve responded to the pressure that we put on them to try to handle this in a more transparent way that meets basic standards of due process that every American would be entitled to,” he said.
“We’ll have to take a look at what the House produces later today and see if it passes the smell test of providing the kind of due process protections that the president and his team are certainly entitled to, just like President Nixon was and President Clinton was,” he said.
(continued)
Senate Republicans, with 22 seats up for reelection and their majority up for grabs in 2020, are in a bind over how to defend President Trump from the House impeachment push.
They realize their political fortunes and policy goals are tied to the president, but they also know their best shot at keeping control of the Senate hinges on senators preserving their independent brands.
That means they have to be careful in defending conduct they see as improper; several Senate Republicans say it would be wrong to hold up military aid to Ukraine to gain political leverage, the issue at the heart of the impeachment inquiry.
Senate Republicans on Tuesday took a decidedly cautious approach as a White House witness offered new testimony in the House critical of Trump.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell claimed victory in Speaker Nancy Pelosi's decision to hold a House vote Thursday on impeachment procedures but stopped short of outlining his next moves.
“Obviously they’ve responded to the pressure that we put on them to try to handle this in a more transparent way that meets basic standards of due process that every American would be entitled to,” he said.
“We’ll have to take a look at what the House produces later today and see if it passes the smell test of providing the kind of due process protections that the president and his team are certainly entitled to, just like President Nixon was and President Clinton was,” he said.
(continued)