On Thursday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell signed on as a co-sponsor to Sen. Josh Hawley’s (R-MO) resolution to change the Senate’s rules to allow a vote to dismiss the Democrats’ two articles of impeachment if House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) fails to submit them within 25 days. In response, actress and progressive activist Alyssa Milano — who has been one of Hollywood’s more vocal critics of President Trump and Republicans — issued an exasperated, F-bomb-filled social media post lamenting the Democrats’ loss of “focus” on impeachment amid their attempt to limit Trump’s authority in handling Iran.
“F***. F***. F***. This is what happens when we pivot our focus to Iran: McConnell is backing a resolution to change the Senate’s rules to allow for lawmakers to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Trump before the House sends them over,” Milano tweeted Thursday, linking to an article on McConnell backing Hawley’s measure to allow a dismissal of the articles if Pelosi withholds them for too long.
Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
This is what happens when we pivot our focus to Iran:
McConnell is backing a resolution to change the Senate’s rules to allow for lawmakers to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Trump before the House sends them over. https://t.co/OGwGUHIDda
— Alyssa Milano (@Alyssa_Milano) January 9, 2020
As The Daily Wire reported, McConnell addressed the Democrats’ delay in handing over the impeachment articles on the Senate floor Thursday, slamming Pelosi for spending “twelve weeks undermining the institution of the presidency with an historically unfair and subjective impeachment and now, for the sequel, they’ve come after the institution of the Senate as well.”
“When you take a step back, what has really happened over the past three weeks? When you step back from the political noise and the pundits discussing ‘leverage’ that never existed, what have House Democrats actually done?” asked the majority leader. “This is what they have done: They have initiated one of the most grave and most unsettling processes in our Constitution and then refused to allow a resolution. The Speaker began something that she herself predicted would be ‘so divisive to the country’ and now she is unilaterally saying it cannot move forward towards a resolution.”
The resolution would allow the Senate to dismiss the articles with a simple majority vote and ratchets up the pressure from both sides of the aisle on Pelosi to abandon her delay gambit. Among the Democrats calling on Pelosi to turn over the articles is Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA), who said earlier this week, “If we’re going to do it, she should send them over. I don’t see what good delay does.”
Ahead of the Democrats’ vote Thursday on a War Powers Resolution intended to limit Trump’s military actions involving Iran — a resolution that passed but that Republicans have dismissed as “toothless” — Trump mocked “Crazy Nancy” and pointed out that impeaching him has apparently lost the alleged “urgency” Democrats once invoked.
“Hope that all House Republicans will vote against Crazy Nancy Pelosi’s War Powers Resolution,” Trump tweeted ahead of the War Powers Resolution vote Thursday. “Also, remember her ‘speed & rush’ in getting the Impeachment Hoax voted on & done. Well, she never sent the Articles to the Senate. Just another Democrat fraud. Presidential Harassment!”
Related: Trump Targets Pelosi Ahead Of Vote On ‘Toothless’ War Powers Resolution