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.
Krutika Amin, associate director at the Kaiser Family Foundation for the Program on the Affordable Care Act, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss the Biden administration's plan to fix the so-called 'family glitch' in the Affordable Care Act preventing millions of Americans from accessing government-subsidized health plan.
Abdallah Fayyad, opinion writer at the Boston Globe, joins Cheddar Politics to discuss the House's vote to hold former Trump aides Dan Scavino and Peter Navarro in contempt of Congress and send the recommendation to the Department of Justice. Fayyad also weighs in on the pressure facing Attorney General Merrick Garland to be more aggressive in prosecuting the January 6 case.
Those paying back federal student loans are getting a few extra months of relief. President Biden just announced another extension of the pandemic relief program allowing millions of borrowers to freeze their student loan payments. The pause began in March 2020 and it has been extended six times. Tomas Campos, co-founder and CEO of Spinwheel, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
There has been notable disagreement in the medical community about a fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose. The FDA last week authorized a second booster dose for older and immunocompromised individuals, as some agency officials did not support the idea. The FDA made the decision without meeting with its advisory committee, as it had ahead of its recommendations on the previous COVID-19 vaccine doses.
The CDC followed in the footsteps of the FDA and authorized a fourth dose as well. Reports say the agency also did not discuss the move with its own advisory team of vaccine experts. Now, a growing number of doctors are speaking out against the decisions - leaving people confused about whether they should get another vaccine dose. Dr. Julie Morita, a member of the CDC's advisory committee to the director, and the executive vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The Senate has confirmed Ketanji Brown Jackson to the Supreme Court, shattering a historic barrier by securing her place as the first Black female justice and giving President Joe Biden a bipartisan endorsement for his effort to diversify the court
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tested positive for COVID-19, her spokesman says. That's a day after the 82-year-old Democratic leader appeared unmasked at a White House event with President Joe Biden.
JetBlue made an unsolicited offer to buy low-cost carrier Spirit Airlines, potentially jeopardizing the original offer from Frontier Airlines. Several analysts sounding the alarm on JetBlue's proposed $3.6 billion merger, saying the deal doesn't quite make sense. Jim Corridore, Senior Insights Manager at Similarweb joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss.
The Biden administration is once again extending the pause on federal student loans payments — this time, through the end of August. In a statement, President Biden cited a recent analysis from the Fed that if the payments were to resume, millions of student loan borrowers would face significant "economic hardship, delinquencies, and defaults that could threaten America's financial stability." Sarah Foster, an analyst at Bankrate, breaks down the impact of the extension on borrowers, the economy, and the future of student loan forgiveness. "I think this is just an instance of the federal student loan forbearance program kind of creating additional uncertainty for borrowers, especially in the sense that these past four extensions from the Biden administration have kind of come at the 11th hour here," she said.
