Today, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell reiterated that he will not let the House Democrats dictate the Senate's impeachment trial procedures:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, speaking from the chamber’s floor Friday, rejected House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s efforts to shape a pending impeachment trial as “fantasy”—leaving the process at a standstill as lawmakers return from the holiday recess.
“Their turn is over. They’ve done enough damage. It’s the Senate’s turn now to render sober judgment,” McConnell, R-Ky., said on the Senate floor. . . .
McConnell, though, indicated the Senate process is at a standstill for now, as he accused the House of getting "cold feet."
"The same people who spent weeks screaming that impeachment was so urgent … now decided it could wait indefinitely while they check the political winds and look for some new talking points," he said.
Last night, Senator Josh Hawley tweeted that he will introduce a measure to change the Senate rules regarding impeachment next week to provide that if the House does not transmit the articles of impeachment to the Senate, the impeachment will be dismissed:
Dems said impeachment was URGENT. Now they don’t want to have a trial, because they have no evidence. In the real world, if prosecution doesn’t proceed with case, it gets dismissed. So on Monday, I will introduce a measure to dismiss this bogus impeachment for lack of prosecution.
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 2, 2020
My proposal will take form of motion to update Senate impeachment rules to account for this unprecedented attempt to obstruct Senate trial. Stay tuned.
— Josh Hawley (@HawleyMO) January 2, 2020
Thanks to Leader McConnell, Senator Hawley, and other Republican senators for standing up against the House Democrats' attempts to control the impeachment trial and dictate procedures in the Senate. Facing a public relations and fundraising disaster, House Democrats are attempting to salvage their rushed, opaque, incomplete procedures in the House by starting to build their case anew in the Senate - which is not the process envisioned by the Constitution.