Mitch McConnell reportedly doesn't have the votes to block witnesses

(Image credit: Senate Television via Getty Images)

During a meeting of Republican senators on Tuesday afternoon, GOP leaders announced that they do not yet have enough votes to stop witnesses from being called at President Trump's impeachment trial, The Wall Street Journal reports.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) did not share any numbers, but did acknowledge the votes aren't where he needs them to be, people with knowledge of the meeting said. The senators will vote later this week on whether to allow witnesses in the trial, and a new Quinnipiac poll shows 75 percent of voters want to hear witness testimony. Four Republicans and all 47 Democrats would provide enough votes to approve witnesses for the trial.

Trump's lawyers finished their opening arguments on Tuesday, declaring the trial should end "as quickly as possible" without any witnesses. On Sunday, The New York Times reported that in his forthcoming book, former National Security Adviser John Bolton contradicts the defense argument that Trump did not engage in a quid pro quo with Ukraine. The White House blocked Bolton from testifying during the House impeachment inquiry.

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.