McConnell says he'll address Senate floor Thursday morning, day after House impeachment vote

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Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., is expected to address the Senate floor at 9 a.m. ET Thursday  -- the day after the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives voted to impeach President Trump for "abuse of power" and "obstruction of Congress" related to his dealings with Ukraine.

“At 9:30am tomorrow morning, on the Senate floor, I will speak about House Democrats’ precedent-breaking impeachment of the President of the United States,” McConnell tweeted Thursday night.

MCCONNELL: 'WE'VE HEARD ENOUGH' ON IMPEACHMENT, PROLONGED SENATE TRIAL COULD BE 'EMBARRASSING SCENE'

Article one, abuse of power, passed on a 230-197 vote, with two Democrats joining Republicans in voting nay. The obstruction-of-Congress vote was 229-197, with three Democrats voting nay. No Republicans supported either article. 2020 presidential hopeful Rep. Tulsi Gabbard, D-Hawaii, voted “present,” indicating she did not support impeachment. Trump became the third U.S. president to be impeached after the historic vote.

In a news conference following the House impeachment vote Wednesday, Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., suggested Democrats may wait to send their articles of impeachment against Trump to the GOP-controlled Senate until they’re assured Republicans are capable of holding a fair trial.

McConnell told Fox News’ Sean Hannity last week that he would coordinate with the White House counsel when setting the procedure for the Senate trial, adding that “There will be no difference from the president’s position and our position.”

Waiting to send the articles to the Senate could prove to be a tactical play for Democrats – as leaving Trump in limbo would mean he’s an impeached president – and would prevent him from an almost certain acquittal in a trial in the GOP-controlled upper chamber of Congress. That would leave the president open to claim he was exonerated as he campaigns for re-election in 2020.

Under the rules of impeachment, the Senate has no option but to turn to impeachment once the articles are handed over from the House. Because the Republicans have the majority, McConnell will have the authority to decide on the procedures of the trial.

On Wednesday morning, McConnell rejected a request from Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., to subpoena new documents and call witnesses who had been blocked by the White House during the impeachment inquiry on the House side.

"The Senate is meant to act as judge and jury, to hear a trial, not to re-run the entire fact-finding investigation because angry partisans rushed sloppily through it,” McConnell told the Senate floor.

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In a letter on Sunday, Schumer suggested dates for the trial, a presentation of the articles by impeachment managers, a list of witnesses including acting White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney and former national security adviser John Bolton, how to handle the witnesses, and ideas on how much time the Senate should devote to debate in the trial.

McConnell stressed the fact-finding mission should have been completed during the impeachment inquiry led by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif. He accused the House of doing a rush job, and said Schumer is now looking "to make Chairman Schiff's sloppy work more persuasive."

Fox News' Ronn Blitzer and Julia Musto contributed to this report.