Nancy Pelosi, the Democratic speaker of the House, has doubled down on her refusal to send articles of impeachment to the US Senate despite mounting pressure from members of her own party.
Last month, Mr Trump became the third president in US history to be impeached, when the House of Representatives voted to charge him with abuse of power and obstruction of justice. But Ms Pelosi has held off on sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate in an effort to pressure Mitch McConnell, the Senate’s top Republican, to allow for new witnesses and the submission of fresh evidence during the trial.
Earlier this week, Mr McConnell said Republicans “have the votes” to move ahead without striking a deal with Democrats. But under current Senate rules, an impeachment trial cannot begin until the articles are received from the House. On Thursday, Ms Pelosi told reporters that she would not send the articles until Mr McConnell provided more details of how a trial would be conducted.