Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is not expected to hold a vote on a motion to dismiss the impeachment articles against President Trump, but would instead move to a final vote acquitting the President when a majority of senators believe the trial has run its course, two GOP senators told CNN.
That’s significant because Republicans want to have an actual vote on acquittal — to clear the President of the charges against him — and not simply rely on a 51-vote threshold procedural motion to dismiss the hotly-disputed case.
The Constitution mandates 67 votes are required to convict the President and remove him from office, a barrier widely considered too high to be reached in this case.
One vote McConnell can’t rely on is that of Vice President Mike Pence who has “no role in impeachment,” according to an GOP leadership aide, despite being President of the Senate with the mandate to break ties.
But Pence’s power, which applies to legislation and nominations, doesn’t apply to when the Senate is weighing removing his boss, an obvious conflict of interest since he would ascend to replace Trump if he were removed. Instead, Chief Justice John Roberts would preside at the trial and any tie motions would fail.
One of the senators, speaking anonymously, said McConnell would not call a vote on the motion to proceed to the impeachment articles unless he knew he had the 51 votes needed to succeed.
The other senator, John Cornyn of Texas, said it “would make more sense” to move to vote on the actual articles of impeachment — with their 67-vote requirement — than a motion to dismiss and “decide this on a 51-vote threshold, with the potential tie and all the recriminations that would flow from that.”
McConnell hinted at this strategy when he spoke to reporters Tuesday and said the Senate would have two choices after hearing opening arguments from the House impeachment managers and the President’s defense counsel.
“It could go down the path of calling witnesses and basically having another trial or it could decide — and again, 51 members could make that decision — that they’ve heard enough and believe they know what would happen and could move to vote on the two articles of impeachment,” he said. “Those are the options. Not decisions have been made yet.”
