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MITCH MCCONNELL: Last night, House Democrats finally did what they had decided to do a long time ago. They voted to impeach President Trump.
ARI SHAPIRO, HOST:
That's how Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell began his statement on the Senate floor this morning. He went on to call the impeachment inquiry into President Trump rushed and unfair.
AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:
The House of Representatives voted mostly along party lines to impeach President Trump last night, approving two articles of impeachment - obstruction of Congress and abuse of power. The next step is for the House to name impeachment managers and present the articles of impeachment to the Senate to start a trial.
McConnell made his views on how that should play out quite clear.
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MCCONNELL: If the Senate blesses this slapdash impeachment - if we say that from now on, this is enough, then we invite an endless parade of impeachable trials.
SHAPIRO: He also taunted House Democrats, suggesting they were too afraid to even take that next step.
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MCCONNELL: The prosecutors are getting cold feet in front of the entire country - and second-guessing whether they even want to go to trial.
CORNISH: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi shot back.
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NANCY PELOSI: Frankly, I don't care what the Republicans say.
CORNISH: She downplayed the suggestion that she might delay sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
SHAPIRO: But Pelosi has not yet named a team from the House to present the articles of impeachment, and she didn't lay out a timeline for when she might proceed. The speaker also said she's waiting to see the Senate's plan for an impeachment trial.
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PELOSI: We'd like to see a fair process. But we'll see what they have, and we'll be ready for whatever it is. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.