Tuesday, December 24, 2019

The Senate Has a Duty

Senate Republicans seem content to play along while ridiculing her gambit, but they should take their own duties more seriously and hold a trial.

The parchment merely says the House has sole power over impeachment and the Senate the sole power to try an impeachment.

With staggered elections every six years, two thirds of the Senate wouldn't face immediate re-election after a trial and vote.

This means the current Senate has a responsibility to fulfill its part of the Constitution's impeachment duty as a check on the partisan excesses of the Pelosi House.

Current Senate rules say a trial isn't triggered until the House appoints impeachment managers who deliver the articles to the Senate.

The constitutional lawyer and our contributor David Rivkin argues that in this context the Senate rules violate the constitutional duty to hold a trial.

For Senate Republicans, their constitutional duty here is also the best politics.


https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-senate-has-a-duty-11577147237?mod=hp_opin_pos_1

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