U.S. Senator David Perdue last week co-sponsored a Senate Resolution condemning the U.S. House of Representatives’ closed-door impeachment inquiry into President Donald Trump, calling it “unprecedented” and “undemocratic.”
The resolution calls for a vote to initiate a formal impeachment inquiry before proceeding any further with its investigations into the President. Perdue, who introduced the resolution alongside U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), among others, is demanding that House Republicans be allowed to participate in proceedings out from behind closed doors, as well as to allow Trump to confront his accusers and call witnesses on his behalf.
“The proposition that the Speaker acting alone may direct committees to initiate impeachment proceedings without any debate or a vote on the House floor is unprecedented and undemocratic,” states the resolution. “The House of Representatives is abandoning more than a century’s worth of precedent and tradition in impeachment proceedings and denying President Trump basic fairness and due process accorded every American.”
The release of the resolution came following a lunch at the White House where Trump hosted Perdue, Graham, and other high profile Republican senators close to the President. Struggling with its impeachment messaging, the Trump administration has looked to lean on its allies at the Capitol to combat a Democrat Party that has moved aggressively forward in its impeachment probe. Republican senators say their resolution will urge the House to adopt the same procedures regarding impeachment that were available to President Clinton and Nixon allowing them to call witnesses and defend themselves.
