PELOSI VERSUS MCCONNELL

Just when we thought we had put impeachment behind us and could wait on the trial in the Senate, the story took a strange twist. The Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi, has refused to deliver to the Senate the articles of impeachment passed by the House of Representatives on 18 December to the Senate. Under the terms of the Constitution, the House impeaches by majority vote in order to put the president on trial in the Senate. There the senators sit as the jury but must vote by two-thirds (67 of the 100) to remove the president from office. In order to have the trial, however, the Senate has to receive the articles of impeachment from the House. This is what Pelosi is holding up. Refusal to deliver the articles did not happen in the two earlier cases (A Johnson, Clinton). 

This situation has set up a clash of the titans in Washington. It is Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic head of the House, against Mitch McConnell, the Republican head of the Senate. They are now at it and neither one of these political giants shows any intention of backing down an inch. It will be fascinating to watch who wins this prize fight. Who do you think will win?

Both of these characters are master politicians who long ago perfected the hardball maneuverings of Washington. They have much in common in that regard. 

Nancy Pelosi has handled the impeachment matter brilliantly. She is the greatest speaker of the House since Sam Rayburn. She has the intelligence of a chess master and the patience to go with it. She exudes "don't mess with me" authority even to reporters. Like the school marm who has had it with the schoolyard bully, she appeared at just the right time to tweak him by the ear and give him a good thrashing. 

Mitch McConnell has just as brilliantly controlled the Senate in favor of the Trump Republican party. Under Obama, he blocked the Democrats' chances of getting a seat on the Supreme Court and to place many new judges on the benches. Under Trump, he has turned the Senate into the power enter for the President on Capitol hill. He got through two Supreme Court judges and many young, conservative federal judges some with little or no courtroom experience. He has on his desk now hundreds of bills passed by the House of Representatives that he refuses to advance for consideration in the Senate. For this, he is fond of calling himself "the Grim Reaper." 

As clever as he is, I think McConnell made a serious tactical mistake in announcing before the House vote on impeachment that he would not allow a fair trial in the Senate, in direct violation of the terms of the Constitution. He said very publicly he would coordinate his effort with the President so that the trial would end quickly with an acquittal. He would have been smarter to wait to say such after the vote. No doubt McConnell's unwise attempt to preempt Pelosi's moment of glory raised the school marm's hackles as nothing else could. So, a few minutes after the House voted the articles, Pelosi went on television to smack down her upstart rival. No one saw this coming.

Pelosi said she would hold the articles until McConnell spelled out what procedures he would choose for the trial (the Constitution does not give details for a trial). The Constitution does not give a time period for the delivery of the articles to the Senate. Theoretically Pelosi could hold the articles for a long time. It is possible we will go through the election in November of 2020 with this situation at a stalemate. Surely the Republicans would not want that. Having two articles of impeachment hanging over Trump's head would not help his chances of getting reelected. An acquittal in a trial in the Senate would help his chances. So, what we are watching now is a high stakes political chess match.

Brilliant and aggressive Pelosi is matched up against brilliant and stubborn McConnell. Right now they are playing a game of chicken. They already know each other very well. At this moment Pelosi holds the stronger position because she has control over the articles that are dangerous to President Trump and the Republicans. She is refusing to relinquish her control until she gets what she wants, a fair trial in the Senate. On the other hand, McConnell has the majority in the Senate and the Republicans have shown no inclination to break ranks. He can set the terms of the trial. He can count on a certain acquittal. What remains to be seen is what McConnell is willing to do in order to get his hands on the articles. That is the question of the day.

A big lesson we have all learned recently is that no one should underestimate Nancy Pelosi. She gave a thrashing to the most powerful man in the world. Before this is over, I expect she will get the best of McConnell too.