Senate Democrats will call up votes on witnesses and documents at the outset of President Trump’s impeachment trial Tuesday afternoon, setting up an immediate partisan battle that is likely to last the length of the trial.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, told reporters he’d force a vote “right off the bat” to subpoena the administration for documents related to Trump’s call with the president of Ukraine in which he asked for help investigating former Vice President Joe Biden and Democrats.
Schumer may also try to change the Senate rules to allow more days to present arguments.
Democrats charge Trump with abuse of power for withholding security aid from Ukraine while seeking its help investigating Biden.
“The documents are of equal importance. People should understand that the documents can shed as much light on why the aid was cut off, who did it, and how it evolved as the witnesses, and we feel very strongly that we need documents,” Schumer told reporters. “And that’s why it’s our first call.”
Democrats are opposed to the rules Republicans plan to pass governing how the trial will proceed. They want Republicans to agree to subpoena the documents and to call several Trump administration officials to testify.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, unveiled the rules Monday night. They prohibit a vote on calling witnesses until after the impeachment managers and Trump’s White House lawyers present their arguments.
But Democrats want the GOP to agree to call witnesses and subpoena documents at the start of the trial.
Schumer said he would also call up votes “on the documents we requested the witnesses we requested and amendments to fix the most egregious departure, that McConnell made in his Proposed resolution.”
The trial starts at 1 p.m. with a vote on the resolution.
Schumer, 69, said Democrats were starting the trial with forced votes because Republicans were scheming to make it impossible to summon them later in the trial.
“There is no guarantee that leader McConnell will allow these votes to take place later in the trial,” Schumer said. “So now, before any resolution passes, we must do it. We feel this is an obligation to the constitution to outline what a fair trial would be.”
The GOP trial rules allow each side 24 hours over two days to present arguments.
Schumer said the compressed schedule was aimed at hiding the trial arguments “in the dead of night.”
The House impeachment managers criticized the Senate trial rules earlier Tuesday.
“This is not a process for a fair trial,” said House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff, a California Democrat and an impeachment manager. “This is a process for a rigged trial.”
