On Thursday morning, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) slammed Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) for signaling that he plans to dismiss the House’s articles of impeachment outright.
“If the Republicans proceed with the majority leader’s scheme to sweep these charges under the rug and permit the president to ignore Congress, they will be creating a new precedent that will long be remembered as one of the Senate’s darkest chapters,” Schumer warned during a speech on the Senate floor.
“It will be remembered as a time when a simple majority in the Senate sought to grant two new rights to the President: the right to use the government for personal purposes and the right to ignore Congress at his pleasure,” he continued.
The Democratic leader asserted that if McConnell refuses to hold an impeachment trial to hold President Donald Trump accountable, “future presidents will take note and may do worse.”
“And the most powerful check on the executive, the one designed to protect the people from tyranny, will be erased,” he said.
Watch Schumer below:
Schumer on McConnell potentially dismissing the House’s impeachment: Senate GOPers will set a dangerous precedent if they go with McConnell’s “scheme to sweep these charges under the rug.” pic.twitter.com/oav00HLLgz
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) December 19, 2019