Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) wants to know what his GOP counterpart is afraid of.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) on Tuesday rejected Schumer's proposal to simultaneously agree to witnesses and the parameters of President Trump's possible Senate impeachment trial, accusing him of trying to "short-circuit" their plan to negotiate the trial together. McConnell seemed particularly upset that Schumer released his letter on the matter to the press before discussing it with him first.
"It's not the Senate's job to leap into the breach and search desperately for ways to get to 'guilty,'" McConnell said.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Schumer on Sunday said he wanted multiple Trump administration officials, including Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney and former National Security Adviser John Bolton, to serve as witnesses in the trial. He is also seeking relevant documents blocked by the Trump administration.
McConnell, while he reportedly still wants to meet with Schumer, called the request "dead wrong" and a "fishing expedition."
Schumer responded quickly Tuesday, hinting that he thinks McConnell is worried about what the proposal might reveal.
But not everyone sees it that way, including Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah), one of Trump's harshest Republican critics. In Romney's view, McConnell is just trying to stick with the precedent. Tim O'Donnell
-
Trump picks conservative BLS critic to lead BLSspeed read He has nominated the Heritage Foundation's E.J. Antoni to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics
-
Trump takes over DC police, deploys National GuardSpeed Read The president blames the takeover on rising crime, though official figures contradict this concern
-
Trump sends FBI to patrol DC, despite falling crimeSpeed Read Washington, D.C., 'has become one of the most dangerous cities anywhere in the world,' Trump said
-
Trump officials reinstating 2 Confederate monumentsSpeed Read The administration has plans to 'restore Confederate names and symbols' discarded in the wake of George Floyd's 2020 murder
-
Trump nominates Powell critic for vacant Fed seatspeed read Stephen Miran, the chair of Trump's Council of Economic Advisers and a fellow critic of Fed chair Jerome Powell, has been nominated to fill a seat on the Federal Reserve Board of Governors
-
ICE scraps age limits amid hiring pushSpeed Read Anyone 18 or older can now apply to be an ICE agent
-
Trump's global tariffs take effect, with new additionsSpeed Read Tariffs on more than 90 US trading partners went into effect, escalating the global trade war
-
House committee subpoenas Epstein filesSpeed Read The House Oversight Committee has issued a subpoena to the Justice Department for its Jeffrey Epstein files with an Aug. 19 deadline
