The House won’t send impeachment articles against Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas to the Senate until Monday, giving the GOP more time to game out a strategy.
House Republicans had initially planned to present the articles on Wednesday, likely culminating in a Thursday dismissal of the trial. But GOP senators want to avoid any absences on their side, tightening Democrats’ margin for error in the 51-49 chamber. That could mean every Democratic senator would have to vote to table or dismiss if the party wants to avoid a lengthy impeachment trial.
“To ensure the Senate has adequate time to perform its constitutional duty, the House will transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate next week,” said Taylor Haulsee, a spokesperson for Speaker Mike Johnson.
Senate Democrats had planned to shut down the trial quickly, which would require a majority vote in the chamber. But a number of moderate Democrats up for reelection this year haven’t committed to voting for a motion to dismiss. And Sen. Mike Braun (R-Ind.) said Tuesday that he “would doubt” any GOP senators vote with Democrats to abandon a trial.
“You’ve always got to maybe worry about that a little bit,” he added. “It’s a numbers game.”
Senate conservatives are adamant they want a full trial — though that seems particularly unlikely. Democrats have made it clear they want to end the trial as quickly as possible. Majority Leader Chuck Schumer still projected confidence to that end Tuesday afternoon.
“We’re ready to go whenever they are. We’re sticking with our plan. We’re going to move this as expeditiously as possible,” he told reporters.
Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.
