The plan from Democrats makes the Chairman of the House Intelligence Committee - Rep. Adam Schiff (D-CA) - the point man for the House, giving him the power to call hearings, and deal with requests by Republicans for their own witnesses as well.
At the end of the process, materials gathered by Schiff's panel and four others would be submitted to the Judiciary Committee, for work on any actual articles of impeachment.
JUST IN: House resolution empowers SCHIFF to call public hearings and add as many rounds of uninterrupted questioning as he wants -- up 45 minutes per side -- in which only SCHIFF/NUNES or a staffer can ask questions. https://t.co/A6EhTLapBO
— Kyle Cheney (@kyledcheney) October 29, 2019
--There will be similar procedures for Judiciary
— Alex Moe (@AlexNBCNews) October 29, 2019
--Provision for Trump’s counsel to participate in Judiciary Committee
--No specific dates moving forward https://t.co/Ir6UyePuIP
The plan does not have any dates for when proceedings would begin or end, as top Democrats have said it's not clear if this investigation and impeachment effort will run into 2020.
“None of us came to Congress to impeach a president – but each of us took a solemn oath to protect and defend the Constitution,” said Rep. Jim McGovern (D-MA), the chair of the House Rules Committee, which will vote on this plan on Wednesday.
After Republicans had called for weeks for the House to hold a formal vote on impeachment, GOP lawmakers gave this plan the quick back of the hand.
“This resolution is a bogus attempt to legitimize an “impeachment” effort that doesn’t offer real fairness, due process, or transparency,” said Rep. Doug Collins (R-GA), the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee.
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