Mitch McConnell Caves To GOP Rebellion And Tweaks His Sham Trial Rules

After a rebellion from some Republicans, Mitch McConnell changed his Senate rules to admit the House evidence and allow arguments over three days.

NBC News reported:
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell changed a controversial provision in the rules for the impeachment trial that would have required House prosecutors and White House lawyers to make 24 hours of legal arguments in just two days and could have barred evidence gathered by the House.

The last-minute change was revealed on Tuesday as the organizing resolution for President Donald Trump’s Senate trial was being read into the record on the Senate floor. The new version gives both side 24 hours to make their case over three days, instead of the two initially proposed by McConnell on Monday.

McConnell actually made the changes by hand on the Senate floor:

The office of Susan Collins is taking credit for the changes:

This is a very Collins like move to do something that would make her seem like a moderate while, in the end, going along with Trump and McConnell in voting not to convict.

The overriding message is that Sen. McConnell doesn’t appear to have as much control over his caucus as his projecting to the media and the American people. McConnell’s trial rules are a little bit better, but this won’t be a real trial until the president is forced to turn over documents and witnesses are called.

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Jason Easley

Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.

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