Nancy Pelosi isn't in a huge rush to hand impeachment to Mitch McConnell

Nancy Pelosi won't commit
(Image credit: Sarah Silbiger/Getty Images)

The House has impeached President Trump on two counts, abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, but Trump can't be tried in the Senate until House Speaker Nancy Pelosi names, and the House approves, impeachment managers to present the House's case for conviction in Trump's trial. Pelosi said Wednesday night she won't appoint the impeachment managers until she has a better sense of what kind of trial they will be participating in, refusing to commit to a timetable to hand impeachment over to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

"We cannot name managers until we see what the process is on the Senate side," Pelosi said. "So far we haven't seen anything that looks fair to us. So hopefully it will be fair. And when we see what that is, we'll send our managers." She added that she and her lieutenants aren't having "that discussion" about indefinitely withholding the articles of impeachment, denying Trump his trial and presumptive acquittal, but "we're not sending it tonight because it's difficult to determine who the managers would be until we see the arena in which we will be participating."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

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.

Sign up
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.