John Roberts Won’t Let Mitch McConnell Derail a Trump Impeachment Trial
Chief Justice John Roberts
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell has said that — if President Trump is impeached — he wants the subsequent trial in the Senate to be handled briskly. But the presiding officer at an impeachment will be the chief justice of the United States, John Roberts.
In an essay at Slate, Yale law professor Bruce Ackerman writes: “Given his deep commitment to professionalism, John Roberts can be counted on to deflect any behind-the-scenes pressures for speed. These inclinations would be reinforced, moreover, by the recent controversy surrounding the appointment of Brett Kavanaugh. Everybody remembers McConnell ramming the nomination through without a full investigation of multiple allegations of misconduct; Roberts cannot allow the same hardball tactics to repeat themselves.”
And a handful of skeptical Republican senators may deny McConnell the majority support he would require to force through a revision of the rules that could marginalize the chief justice’s role, Ackerman explains.
