Rand Paul Has Suggestion for Future Impeachment Trials

Rand Paul thinks presidential impeachment could become the new norm in the US following President Trump's saga—and he's got a few ideas about how the next trial should proceed. "I think we should change the process ... It's got to be a lot shorter," the Republican senator from Kentucky told Axios on Monday, noting the Supreme Court hears "really, really complicated cases" but "their longest oral argument is 30 minutes" per side. Half an hour is likely too short, but "I think eight hours would be plenty for each side, and then I would alternate every hour—go back and forth, so you don't hear 24 hours of the same people saying the same damn thing over and over again," Paul said.

He complained that watchers "gave some of us a hard time for not paying attention every second of 100 hours." The New York Times actually caught Paul sketching the US Capitol on a notepad, according to a report from Jan. 23. But Democratic House managers "said the same thing over and over again, every 30 minutes for 24 hours," Paul told Axios' Mike Allen. "And they really weren't trying to get our votes. They knew they weren't getting any new votes." GOP Sen. Joni Ernst of Iowa has also suggested impeachment could become the new norm because "Democrats have lowered the bar so far," per Vox. The outlet notes Ernst called for President Obama's impeachment in 2014 over recess appointments. (More Rand Paul stories.)