A group of about a dozen Republican senators has formed a plan to essentially block all work in the chamber if Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) tries to table or otherwise stall Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas’ impeachment trial, Fox News is reporting.
“Republican senators are gearing up to prevent all legislative business in the Senate from going forward if they don’t get a full trial into the articles of impeachment” against the DHS boss, the outlet noted.
According to five sources who spoke with Fox News Digital, around a dozen GOP senators have been strategizing for over a week to impede legislative proceedings and normal Senate business if certain conditions, at the very least, are not met during Mayorkas’s impeachment trial. They intend to push for agreed-upon points of order when the House impeachment managers deliver the articles to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y.
“The Senate runs on unanimous consent,” a Senate Republican aide familiar with the talks told Fox News Digital. “Any one senator can do that.”
According to an aide, the conversation has been ongoing since last week. A second Senate Republican aide confirmed that several senators support slowing or stopping legislative business if impeachment is tabled.
According to a source from the top Senate Republican, a delay of the impeachment articles is always a possibility in the upper chamber, as any senator can choose to object at any time. However, the source suggested that such a delay is more likely to happen if the articles are delivered this week.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., opted to postpone the delivery of the articles to the Senate until next week. This decision came after GOP senators exerted pressure, expressing their reluctance to proceed with the impeachment trial just before a weekend when many members would be preparing to return to their states, Fox added.
“But, the source noted, if Schumer and the Democrats seek to table the impeachment trial next week, there would be nothing stopping Republican senators from objecting to basic procedural measures,” the outlet added.
