House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has tapped seven Democrats, including Adam Schiff and Jerry Nadler, to serve as impeachment managers in the upcoming Senate trial against President Donald Trump.
"I'm very proud to present the managers who will bring the case, which we have great confidence in, in terms of impeaching the president and his removal," Pelosi said in a press conference on Wednesday.
These representatives will act as prosecutors in the Senate trial. Their presentations will be among the Democrats' last chances to make the case for Trump's impeachment and removal from office.
Pelosi's announcement of the managers comes nearly a month after the House voted to impeach Trump on two charges: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. The top Democrat chose to withhold the articles until Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell detailed the trial parameters.
Congressional Democrats wanted the upper chamber to agree to call more witnesses, such as former national security adviser John Bolton, before the trial began. But McConnell had enough votes in the Senate to move forward and setting trial rules without meeting those demands.
Instead, the McConnell said he wants Trump's trial to follow the guidelines used during former President Bill Clinton's impeachment proceedings. If that happens, the Senate will first hear opening statements from the White House defense lawyers and the impeachment managers appointed by the House.
After those initial arguments are made, the chamber can vote on whether to call more witnesses or consider new documents. Senate Republicans have seemed reluctant to call new witnesses but have not ruled out the idea completely.
Pelosi warned the upper chamber against dismissing new witnesses or evidence during the trial, arguing that such a move would be evidence of a cover-up.
"The American people will fully understand the Senate's move to begin the trial without witnesses and documents as a pure political cover-up," she said during a press conference on Tuesday. "Leader McConnell and the president are afraid of more facts coming to light."
The House is expected to vote later Wednesday on the resolution naming the managers to formalize their appointment. The resolution will also officially transmit the articles of impeachment to the upper chamber and provide the funding for the proceedings. McConnell said he expects the trial to officially begin on Tuesday, January 21.
Here's everything you need to know about the impeachment managers and their role in the Senate trial:
Who the House Impeachment Managers Are:
Seven lawmakers have been tapped to serve in the position. They are Jason Crow, Sylvia Garcia, Val Demings, Hakeem Jeffries, Zoe Lofgren, Jerry Nadler and Adam Schiff.
Serving as an impeachment manager will be familiar to both Schiff and Nadler. They have been leading the charge on Trump's impeachment since the House of Representatives opened the inquiry in September 2019.
Schiff, the chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, controlled the impeachment probe in its earliest stages. The California Democrat released the initial report detailing all the evidence unearthed by House investigators during its probe into Trump's dealings with Ukraine. The report alleged that Trump leveraged a White House meeting and nearly $400 million in military aid to Ukraine in exchange for an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son Hunter.
Nadler told reporters on Tuesday that he expected to be tapped by Pelosi to serve as an impeachment manager. As the chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, Nadler led the chamber's impeachment inquiry into the public eye with televised hearings.
Nadler's committee was also responsible for introducing the articles of impeachment against Trump. While announcing the charges, the chairman asserted that Trump "compromised our national security and threatened the integrity of our elections."
Five of these impeachment managers serve on the House Judiciary Committee: Demings, Garcia, Jeffries, Lofgren and Nadler. Two of them serve on the House Intelligence Committee: Demings and Schiff. Crow does not serve on either committee.
What Impeachment Managers Do:
A manager's role is similar to that of a prosecutor in a criminal trial. The lawmakers appointed by Pelosi will be responsible for outlining the case against Trump and arguing why he should be convicted and removed from office. They'll be going up against a legal team chosen by Trump and will have the opportunity to respond to the White House's defense.
The exact procedures for the trial have yet to be formalized by the Senate, but McConnell has signaled they will be similar to those used in the Clinton proceedings. During the 1999 trial, the House-appointed managers took several days to present their opening arguments. The managers then fielded individual questions posed by senators.
In the Clinton case, different managers were chosen to present the opening arguments, the articles of impeachment and the closing statements. Pelosi has not yet indicated what managers will be doing what in Trump's trial but did say Schiff would be the "lead" manager.
The impeachment managers also play a key role before the trial even starts. According to The New York Times, the managers are likely to be tapped to physically walk the articles of impeachment from the House to the Senate.
Why They Are So Important:
The role of impeachment manager is a coveted, high-profile position. Only the managers, the president's attorneys and Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (who will preside over the proceedings) will be permitted to speak throughout the trial.
So the performance of the House managers will have a major influence how the entire trial plays out. They are the Democrats' last chance to persuade senators to vote in favor of Trump's removal. Many senators have said they will enter the trial as an impartial juror, so it will be up to the impeachment managers to convince them that the president should be convicted.
The managers will also play a key role in requesting witness testimony and introducing new evidence. Democrats are hoping to request at least four witnesses: former national security adviser John Bolton, White House chief of staff Mick Mulvaney, Office of Management and Budget official Michael Duffey and assistant to the president Robert Blair.
It's also rare for House members to even appear in the upper chamber. Normally, representatives don't speak or give presentations in the Senate—not even to pass legislation.
