Jonathan Bernstein, Columnist

Maybe Pelosi’s Impeachment Delay Is Working

Things keep happening that could hurt Trump. The latest: John Bolton’s offer to testify.

January 6, 2020 at 8:43 PM UTC

Jonathan Bernstein is a Bloomberg Opinion columnist covering politics. A former professor of political science at the University of Texas at San Antonio, he wrote A Plain Blog About Politics.

Not to be underestimated.
Photographer: Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

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One striking thing about House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s decision to delay sending articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump to the Senate is that she doesn’t actually have any real leverage. Senate Republicans are free to ignore the articles passed by Democrats in the House of Representatives on Dec. 18. Indeed, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that’s exactly what he’s doing. Pelosi’s move calls to mind the threat by Sheriff Bart in “Blazing Saddles” to kill himself when he’s about to be lynched.

And yet … that’s not quite the end of the story.