6:38 p.m. ET, October 31, 2019
White House ramps up its outreach to Senate Republicans
From CNN's Pamela Brown and Sarah Westwood
BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP/Getty Images
After weathering criticism of paying too little attention to the President’s defenders in the House, the White House has been ramping up its outreach to Senate Republicans ahead of a likely trial in the upper chamber in the weeks ahead.
Some White House aides and advisers still feel as though President Trump hasn’t allowed his people to form an adequate team to defend against impeachment, as he’s resisted forming a war room or hiring more staff and lawyers. However, the President and staff have spent more time in the past week reaching out to the senators who will likely decide Trump’s fate when the House impeaches him.
What happened today: Over plates of chicken in the Roosevelt Room, Trump talked impeachment with a handful of senators just hours after the House voted to formalize the process. Like many White House officials today, Trump focused on the pair of Democratic members who bucked leadership, according to Sen. Josh Hawley, one of more than a half-dozen senators who met with the President at the White House.
White House officials said Trump monitored the impeachment proceedings on the House floor today. Several pointed out that Trump and his team have been stepping up their Senate outreach to shore up support as the inquiry progresses at a remarkable pace in the House.
Many Republicans and advisers remain deeply frustrated with the way the White House is handling the entire situation. But some point to these signs that the President and his staff may be preparing to handle the second phase of impeachment better than the first, as many even within the White House have acknowledged hasn’t gone well.