After voting to block witnesses, the Senate voted Friday to approve a resolution setting the final day of the president’s impeachment trial — and his likely acquittal — for Wednesday, after both the Iowa Caucuses and President Donald Trump's State of the Union address.
Senators debated on how to move forward during a recess after the witness vote’s conclusion. After nearly 90 minutes, it appeared that Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer had reached a deal that would pause the trial until Monday and provide each senator with 10 minutes to explain his or her decision on the president’s conviction or acquittal. The Senate voted on the organizing resolution and Democrats brought four amendments to the floor — all of which were defeated.
Chief Justice John Roberts answered a question from Schumer on whether he would cast a tie-breaking vote. Roberts said it would be “inappropriate for me” to break a 50-50 tie.
One of the amendments brought to the Senate floor tonight on impeachment rules would have required Roberts to rule on motions for evidence.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) had previously told reporters the expectation moving forward would not include closed deliberations. "I'm opposed to it and I believe we will not have any closed sessions," he said. The plan voted on did not include such a provision.
The new resolution provided a timetable for the end of the third impeachment trial of a sitting U.S. president. The Senate will recess for the weekend until Monday at 11 a.m. Then House Managers and the defense counsel will each have two hours to make closing arguments. Senators will be allowed to give floor speeches for parts of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The vote would be scheduled for 4 pm Wednesday.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said, upon leaving the GOP meeting, that "the process is important, so having the Democrats buy into this final arrangement, I think is more important than just shoving it down their throats because sooner or later the shoe will be on this foot."
Senators will vote on two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to allegations President Trump pressured Ukraine to announce investigations into his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter by withholding nearly $400 million in security aid.
Democrats had been pushing to hear from new witnesses since the trial began nearly two weeks ago, especially after John Bolton, the former national security advisor, said he would testify and new evidence was reported by the New York Times indicated Bolton's unpublished manuscript contained details in which the president told advisors to withhold aid to Ukraine as early as last spring. Only two Republicans — Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) — voted with the Democrats.
The school shooting in Texas that left 19 children and 2 teachers dead has reignited the debate over gun control.
The tragedy in Uvalde is the deadliest school shooting in nearly a decade and marks the latest in a string of mass shootings in the country. Jared Moskowitz, Broward County Commissioner and candidate for Congress in FL-23, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss why gun control measures are stalled in the Senate, and where legislation can move forward from here.
Police and detectives are still investigating the tragic school shooting in Uvalde, Texas that killed 19 children and two adults. Cheddar News was joined by Kirk Burkhalter, professor at New York Law School and former NYPD detective to gain some insight on what investigators are looking for and what comes next.
Texas authorities say the gunman who massacred 21 people at an elementary school was in the building for over an hour before he was killed by law enforcement officers.
Join Cheddar News as we break down the top headlines for Thursday, May 26 including updates on the Texas school shooting, President Joe Biden's executive order on police reform, and a recount in the Pennsylvania GOP Senate primary.
Representative Morgan Griffith of Virginia rebuked words from the FDA commissioner that could have been construed as blaming parents for stockpiling baby formula exacerbating the shortage.
Cheddar News reporter Megan Pratz brings the latest from the scene of yesterday's horrific school shooting at a Robb Elementary School in Uvalde, Texas. Now the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history with 19 children and two adults killed, Pratz goes into comments by Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, details about the deceased shooter, and reactions from members of the community.
The Robb Elementary School mass shooting killing 19 children and two adults in Uvalde, Texas pm Tuesday was the deadliest school shooting since the 2012 Sandy Hook massacre in Newtown, Connecticut, and came just 10 days after the grocery store shooting in Buffalo, New York. Nelson Vergara, the founder and CEO of 360 Protective Solutions, joined Cheddar’s Opening Bell to discuss. "Right now what law enforcement is concentrating on is trying to trace his steps as to what motivated the gunman to act the way he did. What it boils down to just trying to figure out what led to his motivation to do such a horrific act.”
An recently conducted AP-NORC poll found that majorities of the Black and Hispanic populations in the U.S. still find themselves either somewhat worried or extremely worried over the pandemic, while more than half of white Americans responded with either being not too worried or not worried at all. Dr. Chris Pernell, the chief strategic integration and health equity officer at University Hospital, joined Cheddar News to talk about how perceptions of COVID-19 differ between groups of Americans. "We’re still seeing people get infected, and because of the toll of the disproportionate impact, we have concerns among the Black and brown community about whether or not they have an increased risk of exposure because of where they work, because of the use of public transportation, because they live in homes that they may not be able to safely quarantine and or isolate in, and because they have at baseline chronic health conditions that may make coronavirus more severe in those persons," she said.
Judith Enck, a former regional administrator for the EPA and the president of Beyond Plastics, joined Cheddar News to talk about the role of plastics in the climate crisis and California's investigation of ExxonMobil and other oil companies for misleading the public on the ability to recycle plastics. "The reason why petrochemical companies like Exxon have gotten away with selling more and more plastic is that they've lied to the public and told us don't worry about all those negative upstream impacts and downstream impacts of plastics. Just be sure to recycle it. Well, guess what? Plastics largely are not recycled," Enck said.
