WASHINGTON — Senator Mitch McConnell, the majority leader, informed Republicans on Tuesday that he planned to move forward with President Trump’s impeachment trial without committing to additional witnesses or admitting new evidence, over the objections of Democrats who are insisting on both.
Mr. McConnell shared his intentions with senators over lunch in the Capitol, declaring that he had the votes he needed — including among moderate Republicans — to proceed with the trial while putting off a final decision on witnesses or new evidence. That would mean the Senate would tackle those questions after representatives of the House and the president make opening arguments and senators question both sides.
Notably, the plan offers no guarantee that senators will hear new testimony beyond what the House’s inquiry gathered last fall.
Mr. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, outlined the strategy a day after John R. Bolton, the former White House national security adviser, said he would be willing to testify if subpoenaed by the Senate. Mr. Bolton had declined to cooperate with the House impeachment inquiry after the White House ordered officials to stay silent.
Mr. McConnell’s plan mirrors the procedures used during the impeachment trial of President Bill Clinton in 1999, the Senate’s only modern precedent. But unlike then, when all 100 senators agreed to adopt them and begin a trial without resolving the question of witnesses, Democrats are expected to oppose Mr. McConnell’s resolution almost unanimously.
“We have the votes once the impeachment trial has begun to pass a resolution, essentially the same, very similar to the 100-to-nothing vote in the Clinton trial,” Mr. McConnell told reporters after the lunch.
It remained unclear on Tuesday, however, when such a vote would take place. A Senate trial can only begin once the House transmits the two articles of impeachment it approved in December, and Speaker Nancy Pelosi has refused to say when she will do so. Ms. Pelosi has said she will wait to send the charges until she is assured that Mr. McConnell will run a fair trial.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
Michael D. Shear contributed reporting.