Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellGraham predicts Senate will take up impeachment trial next week Pressure building on Pelosi over articles of impeachment Brent Budowsky: Bloomberg should give billion to Democrats MORE (R-Ky.) is backing a resolution to change the Senate’s rules to allow for lawmakers to dismiss articles of impeachment against President Trump
Donald John TrumpPence: Intelligence shows Iran directing militias not to attack U.S. targets Mnuchin aims to wait until end of 2020 to disclose Secret Service costs for Trump's travel: report Pressure building on Pelosi over articles of impeachment MORE before the House sends them over.
Sen. Josh Hawley
Joshua (Josh) David HawleyTrump's China deal is a gift to Wall Street and Beijing GOP senators introduce resolution to change rules, dismiss impeachment without articles Impeachment battle lines harden ahead of pivotal week MORE (R-Mo.) announced on Thursday that McConnell has signed on as a co-sponsor to the resolution, which he introduced earlier this week.
Spokesmen for McConnell didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about his support.
Changing the rules would either require a two-thirds vote or for Republicans to deploy the "nuclear" option.
The resolution would give the House 25 days to send articles of impeachment over to the Senate. After that, a senator could offer a motion to dismiss "with prejudice for failure by the House of Representatives to prosecute such articles" with a simple majority vote, according to Hawley's proposal.
McConnell has repeatedly lashed out at Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiGraham predicts Senate will take up impeachment trial next week Pressure building on Pelosi over articles of impeachment Trump trade deal faces uncertain Senate timeline MORE (D-Calif.) for delaying sending over the two articles of impeachment.
"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," he said on Thursday.
‘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," he added.
