Romney, Collins, Murkowski only Senate GOP holdouts on Graham’s impeachment resolution

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said on Friday that all but three GOP senators had signed onto his resolution condemning the House impeachment inquiry. 

GOP Sens. Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mitt Romney (Utah) have not yet signed onto the resolution, according to an updated list of co-sponsors shared by Graham the day after he introduced the measure. 

{mosads}A spokesperson for Collins didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment about whether or not she would back the resolution.

A spokeswoman for Romney noted that he said on Thursday that he would look at the resolution. 

“I’d like to see a vote taken in the House to decide whether there is support for impeachment. I’d love to see a more open process,” Romney said. 

Murkowski also told reporters on Thursday that she hadn’t yet read the resolution, which formally opposes the impeachment inquiry and urges House Democrats to hold an official vote on it. 

The resolution also says the House should give President Trump “due process” including “the ability to confront his accusers” and that House Republicans should be able to subpoena their own witnesses. 

When Graham introduced the resolution, he had 39 co-sponsors, but that quickly ticked up to 44, with only nine Republicans not signed on as of Thursday afternoon: Romney, Collins, Murkowski and Sens. Cory Gardner (Colo.), Lamar Alexander (Tenn.), Mike Enzi (Wyo.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska), Johnny Isakson (Ga.) and Rob Portman (Ohio). 

Graham tweeted early Thursday evening that Portman and Sullivan had signed on as co-sponsors, while Alexander, Isakson, Gardner and Enzi were in the list of co-sponsors released by Graham on Friday.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who supports the resolution, has not said if it will come up for a vote. If it did, it would currently fail to overcome a procedural hurdle that requires legislation get 60 votes in order to advance on the Senate floor. 

Republicans have fumed over the House impeachment inquiry, which has held near-daily closed-door depositions with current and former administration officials. 

Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has said a formal vote for the inquiry isn’t required. Republicans, however, want a vote because it would put swing-district Democrats on the record and give them more leverage to call their own witnesses. 

Neither Collins, who is up for reelection next year, nor Murkowski nor Romney has backed the House impeachment inquiry or removing Trump from office. 

But they’ve each refrained from taking a position, or chided colleagues who have already made a decision on impeachment. 

“I’ll keep an open mind until and unless there is some kind of decision reached by the House. … It’s a purposeful effort on my part to stay unbiased, and to see the evidence as it’s brought forward,” Romney told reporters in Utah earlier this month.

Murkowski, speaking during a recent health care event in Alaska, said it was “troubling … that even before there has been any considered review, that people have decided.” Meanwhile, Collins said it was “entirely inappropriate” for colleagues to have already “made up their minds.” 

—Updated at 4:29 p.m.