What gives Nancy Pelosi the authority to withhold the Articles of Impeachment from the Senate? Doesn’t that give the Speaker a veto power over the whole process? Suppose that the President did something so heinous that 85% of the house voted to impeach but the Speaker didn’t want to impeach.
Since you’re writing this after Pelosi has announced she will be sending the articles over next week, I assume the question is moot.
IMO it is really not moot since without House rules or the Constitution changing the question can come up again. The OP even specifies a hypothetical that is not the current situation.
Fortunately, that hypothetical is not really the major problem you assume it is. The House elects the Speaker. They can also vote to remove any given Speaker. If there is overwhelming bipartisan support for an impeachement there is very likely overwhelming bipartisan support for a motion to vacate the Speakership. That is a privileged motion that the Speaker can’t block from coming to a vote.
The Speaker’s “veto” only holds as long as the house deigns to allow them to be Speaker.
The U.S Constitution does. Each House is the sole arbiter of its own rules and proceedings. See Article I, Section 5.
If enough Representatives feel that the Speaker is not doing a proper job, it’s a trivial matter to either change the rules or get a new Speaker. Until then, it’s assumed that the Speaker legitimately acts for the whole House.
And further so long as the House doesn’t have the gumption to buck the Speaker.
When people say that Pelosi won’t allow X in the House or that McConnell won’t allow Y in the Senate, that is just shorthand for the longer version that convention, tradition, and practicality allows these individuals control over the business of their respective Houses.
If they become unacceptable to a majority in whole, they can be removed. If they are unacceptable to a majority on a particular issue, then it is up to each member to determine if bucking the leader is worth the shitstorm for them that will follow, and presumably, the majority wouldn’t allow such retribution.
But convention only goes so far. If one of those individuals bucks the clear will of their respective House, then there are several parliamentary maneuvers which allow the vote to be held despite the leaders’ opposition. In the day to day of things, this doesn’t happen and members fall into line. But that (other) nuclear option keeps leaders in tune with their caucuses.
I’ll bring this up again. I’ve predicted that this POTUS, not wishing to die in prison, would pull a vicious diversion if he feared explosive evidence against him was about to emerge. BANG! in Iran signals the first step there. Speaker Pelosi could withhold the Articles of Impeachment as long as she wished, even into another session of Congress, but she may present those next week. I doubt she’d do that unless she’d been handed such explosive evidence. I fear we’re entering the most dangerous week in US history. I sure hope I’m wrong.
Maybe she’s just letting it all marinate. Let a couple, three polls get done, see how America is rallying around the War President.
Which we always do. Until lately.
If she really has The Shit, McConnell’s only play is the pre-emptive dismissal. An outright refusal to even pretend to impartial consideration and evidence. So Republican Senators have to think about selling that to the folks back home.
Remember: if they exonerate him now, whatever comes out later is on them. So, yeah, they are thinking about that, and she’s fine with giving them time to think some more.
Plus, why allow Trump and McConnell the opportunity to claim total victory and exoneration before the next SotU address? If she can delay until after that, then the Republicans can’t use it as a chance to scream “witch hunt,” and it can potentially keep Trump and company twisting in the wind a bit.
She can do whatever she wants: her district “San Francisco” has no choice but to vote Democrat.
It’s terrible the way they force all residents to vote Democratic at gunpoint. Someone should do something.
They have to have a few who don’t, just as an example of what would happen.