While the impeachment trial was launched against President Trump in the Senate today, he is unlikely to be ousted given the Republican majority in the upper chamber of Congress.
The US Senate has voted on Tuesday to block the Democrats’ demand for White House documents to be subpoenaed in the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump, Reuters reported.
The move was initiated by Senate Democratic Leader Chuck Schumer, who earlier said that the Democratic party will offer a number of amendments in relation to documents and witnesses relevant to the impeachment trial.
Schumer in respose to McConnell on stacked votes tonight:”There is no reason we have to do them all tonight & inconvenience Senate & Chief Justice but we not will back off on getting votes on all of these amdts which we regard as extremely significant & important to the country.”
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) January 22, 2020
Later on Tuesday, Senate Republican leader McConnell also moved to block the Democrats’ demand to subpoena the US State Department for certain documents and records related to the impeachment case. The Senate Republicans voted to block the demand in a 53-47 party-line vote.
Following the vote, Schumer proposed a third amendment to subpoena the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) documents for the impeachment trial, which was also voted down 53 to 47.
After the three Democratic amendments were rejected, Schumer offered a fourth one to subpoena acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney. The Senate voted the move down.
53-47: Senate rejects Schumer amdt to McConnell impeachment trial resolution to subpoena Acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney on party line vote. pic.twitter.com/IxyUsBpJD3
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) January 22, 2020
In his fifth attempt, Schumer offered an amendment to subpoena “all documents, communications, and other records within the possession, custody, or control of the Department of Defence” involving aid to Ukraine. The effort was voted down by the Senate.
On Monday, McConnell drafted a resolution giving House Democrat prosecutors and Trump’s defence 24 hours over two days to present their respective cases before allowing senators to vote on whether to call witnesses or hear new evidence.
On 19 December, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. President Trump has continuously slammed the accusations against him as an “impeachment hoax” aiming to reverse the outcome of the 2016 election.
The Trump defense plans to argue that the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives’ impeachment charges are invalid because the US president broke no laws.