Impeachment Trial Dynamics

After nearly 12 hours of vicious debate, the Senate voted early Wednesday to adopt the rules that will govern the rest of the impeachment trial. But in a Republican-controlled chamber, why weren’t they the rules that Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, had originally wanted?

Guest: Julie Hirschfeld Davis, congressional editor for The New York Times. For more information on today’s episode, visit nytimes.com/thedaily.

Background reading:

• Voting along party lines, Senate Republicans blocked Democrats’ efforts to subpoena witnesses and documents related to President Trump’s dealings with Ukraine.
• As the trial began in earnest, Mr. Trump was 4,000 miles away, touting the United States’ economic growth at the World Economic Forum, an elite gathering of business leaders in Davos, Switzerland.

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