Trump Impeachment Trial Status In Limbo As House, Senate At An 'Impasse'

House majority leader Nancy Pelosi's (D-CA) unprecedented gambit to compel Senate Republicans to be non-partisan arbiters during president Donald Trump's impeachment trial by withholding the articles of impeachment from the Senate has left both Houses of Congress at an impasse.

On Wednesday, Pelosi hinted the House might not immediately send the articles of impeachment to the Republican-controlled Senate. Republicans quickly blasted Pelosi's move, saying Pelosi is hanging on to the articles as leverage to extract concessions from them. Others contend Pelosi's aim is to bury impeachment, which they claim is now increasingly unpopular among moderate Democrats in key battleground states.

Republicans said the House in 1998 sent the articles of impeachment to the Senate within minutes after it voted to impeach former president Bill Clinton. Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House on Dec. 19, 1998.

On Thursday, majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) returned to the Senate floor as Congress went into a Christmas recess to declare the Senate and House Democrats were at an "impasse" over the issue of the House transmitting its articles of impeachment for the trial set for January 2020. This timeline is now in jeopardy with Pelosi still witholding the articles from the Senate.

McConnell said Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) still insists on "departing from the unanimous bipartisan precedent that 100 senators approved before the beginning of President (Bill) Clinton's trial" about logistics, said Fox News.

He said Schumer had requested a "special pre-trial guarantee of certain witnesses whom the House Democrats, themselves, did not bother to pursue as they assemble their case." McConnell claimed House Democrats implied they're withholding the impeachment articles for some kind of leverage.

"I admit, I'm not sure what leverage there is in refraining from sending us something we do not want. Alas, if they can figure that out, they can explain."

Schumer is still pushing for an agreement that includes his proposal for witnesses in the Senate trial, confirmed Justin Goodman, Schumer's spokesman.

"Sen. Schumer asked Sen. McConnell to consider Sen. Schumer's proposal over the holidays because Sen. Schumer and his caucus believe the witnesses and documents are essential to a fair Senate trial," said Goodman.

Pelosi said Thursday she's waiting for Schumer and McConnell to reach a deal on the rules that will govern the Senate trial. What happens if Schumer and McConnell can't reach a deal hasn't been figured out yet.

Some Democrats now want Pelosi to hold the articles as leverage to win concessions from the Senate before the trial begins. Pelosi's move to withhold means the House might send the articles of impeachment to the Senate the week of January 6, when the House reconvenes. No one, however, is betting on this occurring since both Democrats and Republicans are expected to first wrangle over impeachment trial rules after they return from recess. The House's first roll-call votes are scheduled for January 7.

Pelosi still demands the resolution to name impeachment managers must be approved first before the articles are transmitted to the Senate. She's also previosuly said she needs to understand what the Senate trial will look like before naming the House managers that will prosecute the case before the senators.