President Donald Trump wanted his legal team to introduce a motion Wednesday that would have immediately closed the book on his impeachment trial _ but the Senate's top Republican persuaded him to back off the idea, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Trump, who was in Switzerland for most of the day attending the World Economic Forum, had instructed his attorneys to roll out a so-called motion to dismiss, which would have thrown out the two impeachment articles if 51 senators voted in favor of it, the sources told the New York Daily News.
But Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., informed the Trump team that he didn't have the votes to pass such a measure, according to the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss internal deliberations.
After McConnell's lament, Trump gave up on a dismissal proposal, the sources said.
His team introduced no motions before Democratic opening arguments began Wednesday afternoon.
Jay Sekulow, Trump's top personal attorney and one of two lawyers spearheading his legal team, did not return a request for comment. A spokesman for McConnell declined to comment.
McConnell could have lost two Republican votes and still jammed through a motion to dismiss the articles charging Trump with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
The majority leader's private acknowledgement suggests he's struggling to keep his 53-member caucus in line, as the Senate considers whether to remove Trump from office over his bid to pressure Ukraine's president into announcing investigations of his political rivals.
On Tuesday, McConnell had to drop some controversial portions of his trial rules resolution after moderate members of his party, including Maine Sen. Susan Collins, protested that the measure would make the proceeding overly rushed and unfair.
Democrats are putting pressure on those GOP moderates to vote with them in calling for subpoenas of outstanding records and witnesses, including former national security adviser John Bolton. Such a vote is expected at some point next week.
The Dems need at least four Republicans to vote with them in order to authorize such subpoenas.
