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In reply to the discussion: Laurence Tribe : the Senate can't require the House, to "immediately" whatever is [View all]FBaggins
(27,802 posts)Note that she hasn't said that she's going to try to stop a Senate trial. All she's doing is trying to put the spotlight on the rules for that trial and gain a little leverage.
If as you say that the Senate does not need to receive the Articles of Impeachment from the House then why hasn't McConnell or Graham begun the trial?
Why would they? Right now they aren't worried about the outcome of the trial... they (like Pelosi) just want to use it for the best political outcome. If McConnell thinks that he can get away with calling Schiff and the whistleblower as witnesses and make hay out of whatever supposed colluding he thinks they had... then he'll do it. If he thinks that it would hurt Republicans... he won't. If he thinks that letting Trump call Biden and his son will score points, he'll do it... if it hurts, he won't.
In direct answer to your question - my assumption is that McConnell wants the trial to start in February. That was their hinted strategy a month or two ago and Pelosi responded by speeding things up. Right now I think he's perfectly happy to wait.
The House is not required to refer the Articles of Impeachment to the Senate at any particular time or even at all.
While in the Senate, the rules require the Senate to begin action immediately after receiving notice from the House
That's incorrect. The House rules do say that managers will be appointed... it just doesn't force the timing. And the Senate rules (which they can change) state what the Senate does WHEN they receive notice. That does not mean that they CAN'T do anything until then.