Congressional leaders have reached an impeachment standoff.The House passed both articles of impeachment against President Trump last month, but House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has since refused to hand them to the Senate until it agrees to hold “fair” trial. And in a Friday Senate floor speech, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) essentially said that’s not going to happen.To start, McConnell dispelled the “fantasy” that Pelosi would get to “hand-design the trial proceedings in the Senate” as a “non-starter.” After all, McConnell said, the oath of “impartial justice” lawmakers take before an impeachment trial “has never meant that senators check all political judgment at the door.” “Impeachment is not a narrow legal question, but a political one as well,” McConnell continued.> .@Senatemajldr: “First, about this fantasy that the Speaker of the House will get to hand-design the trial proceedings in the Senate, that’s obviously a non-starter.” > > Full video: https://t.co/KDSA246xRI pic.twitter.com/VACSjlEeOT> > — CSPAN (@cspan) January 3, 2020McConnell did acknowledge that “it’s the Senate’s turn now to render sober judgment as the framers intended.” “But we can’t hold a trial without the articles,” McConnell continued. And if Pelosi won’t send them on without the promise of a fair process, well, it looks like they’ll be stuck in the House for a while to come.More stories from theweek.com America is guilty of everything we accuse Iran of doing Mike Pence crams 3 inaccuracies about 9/11 into 1 tweet while trying to justify Soleimani strike Australia has ‘yet to hit the worst’ of fires
