Senators will get four hours of debate Friday before voting on whether to call witnesses and introduce documents — a vote that is expected to fail after Senator Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.), announced late last night.
Alexander said that though the House Managers indeed proved the president used Ukraine aid to force an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, he does not believe the conduct rises to the level of an impeachable offense.
Without Alexander's vote, the push for witnesses all but assuredly ended as Senator Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) joined him Friday in rejecting the call. Even if Senators Susan Collins (R-Maine) and Mitt Romney (R-Utah) were to vote yes, the motion will fail unless Chief Justice John Roberts makes a ruling that would set the vote aside, a ruling he is not expected to make.
Once the Senate votes on the witness issue, it's not clear what happens next. Senator Mike Braun (R-Ind.) told Cheddar that after the initial vote "it's not necessarily quick. There's a lot of parliamentary wrestling that goes on to bring it to the ultimate vote, which is the verdict.
"Even in Senator Alexander's statement, though he came to the wrong conclusion, he's said it was proven the president did what he was accused of," Senator Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) told reporters before the start of what may be the last day of the president's impeachment trial.
Republicans have made a few key arguments against witnesses, primarily that the House should have pushed harder to call witnesses, a court fight over testimony could prolong the trial for months, and that if the House says its case is clear it shouldn't need more evidence.
Democrats have argued Senate Republicans could keep the trial short by having Chief Justice John Roberts sign off on subpoenas because that would likely limit court reviews from lower courts. If Republicans do not vote for witnesses, Schumer says they are aiding the president in "the greatest cover-up since Watergate."
"The truth will eventually come out," Schumer said.
"Despite all the arguments back and forth, the bottom, bottom thing, is: I don't know how you can not want to hear from Bolton … One of the senators called it circumstantial evidence, so why wouldn't you want to hear from the man who was in the room where it happens," Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) told reporters after the conclusion of yesterday's question and answer session at almost 11 pm ET.
She said she has always seen this as "an economic check, but also a decency check, a patriotism check on this president" and called today "game day."
Today's vote on allowing witnesses will ultimately set a precedent for impeachment trials moving forward, but also for questions about executive privilege and congressional oversight, as both House Managers and defense lawyers have repeatedly warned senators.
"You cannot have a true acquittal if you've not had a fair trial," Senator Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) said at a press conference on Friday morning.
"Let fairness ring … Americans know Democrats are for a fair trial and witnesses and documents are needed," Minority Leader Schumer said.
Terrell Jermaine Starr, senior fellow with the Atlantic Council and host of the Black Diplomats podcast joins Cheddar News to discuss Russia's attempt to invade Ukraine.
With an increasing number of teachers and staff calling out sick by the day, the state of Oklahoma is turning to an unusual solution. Republican Governor Kevin Stitt has issued an executive order that permits state employees to work as substitute teachers. Shaily Baranwal, founder and CEO of Elevate K-12, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
On Thursday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken addressed the stance of the U.S. and its allies should Russia make any forays into Ukraine, a seeming response to President Biden's remarks that should Putin engage in something short of a full invasion, there might be some indecision among allied nations regarding what to do. Ariel Cohen, a senior fellow at the think tank Atlantic Council, joined Cheddar to discuss the difficulty faced by Blinken wrangling unity as tensions run high in the region. "There'll be a smaller incursion, and the president implied, there'll be a weaker response because our European allies have created this horrible situation where they are dependent on Moscow for their gas supply," Cohen explained.
During a nearly two-hour press conference on Wednesday, President Biden spoke on his accomplishments and challenges from the first year of his presidency, and what his administration hopes to accomplish in the coming year. However, his approval ratings are underwater as COVID remains a big concern for voters — as does inflation, noted Tom Bevan, co-founder and president of polling aggregator RealClearPolitics. "The public thinks [inflation] is priority number one, and the administration is concerned about it, they talk about it, but they're not spending enough time on it as far as the public is concerned," said Bevan.
The drama surrounding tennis star Novak Djokovic continues after he was deported from Australia over the weekend due to the nation's COVID-19 vaccine requirements. Djokovic was forced to leave the country on the eve of what was to be his first match in defense of his Australian Open title after three judges ruled in favor of his removal and revealed their reasoning for doing so. Adding to his woes, a law recently passed in France is putting his chances of defending his French Open title in jeopardy. The director of Marist's Center for Sports Communication, Jane McManus, joined Cheddar to discuss the ongoing fallout.
As the midterm elections get ever closer, candidates have been getting creative with their campaigns to stick out and to connect with voters. Gary Chambers, a Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate from Louisiana, has definitely attracted attention with an advertisement featuring him smoking a blunt, making a point about the inequity of anti-cannabis laws. "We wanted to bring the seriousness of the moment," he said of the ad. "But we also wanted to make sure that people understand that there are 19 states that are legal right now but Black people and brown people are being over-incarcerated in mostly Southern and Midwestern states in America for cannabis possession."
If some members of Congress have their way, there might finally be a 'TLDR' on sites' terms of service, introduced by the terms-of-service labeling, design, and readability act – or TLDR for short. With this act, users will actually understand what they're agreeing to or the many ways in which their data is being used before pressing 'accept.' J.D. sat down with co-sponsor of the bill and Senator Bill Cassidy, to discuss.
President Joe Biden's first year in office is wrapping up. What has he achieved, and what else remains on the table while the Democrats have control of Washington? Amid an ongoing pandemic and rising inflation, Biden's approval rating is at an all-time low and his party is plagued by infighting. Will he be able to continue pushing key parts of his agenda? Paul Glastris, former Bill Clinton speechwriter & Editor-in-chief of 'Washington Monthly,' joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss the president's achievements in his first year, where he's fallen short, and what he must do in order to get more of his agenda signed into law.
Tech giants Meta, Amazon, Alphabet, and Apple are faced with a bipartisan antitrust legislation effort underway in the Senate Judiciary Committee. The companies stand accused of promoting their own goods and services over smaller competitors on their platforms, holding too much monopolistic power via their app stores and services. Adam Kovacevich, founder and CEO of Chamber of Progress, a technology industry trade group, joined Cheddar to argue that the bills that are being debated currently could end up hurting consumers, rather than helping.
