Politics

Sen. Thom Tillis Leaves Senate Floor During Impeachment Hearing — Watches It From Visitors Gallery Above

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Henry Rodgers Chief National Correspondent
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North Carolina Republican Sen. Thom Tillis decided to leave the Senate floor Thursday night in the middle of President Donald Trump’s impeachment hearing, relocating to the visitor’s gallery above the floor to observe.

Tillis, who said earlier in the day that he has made up his mind to acquit the president, decided to leave the floor to watch one story above in the visitor’s gallery. Tillis had been previously sitting down at his desk on the floor with nothing except a pencil and glass of water for most of the day.

Tillis said Wednesday on Twitter that “This sham #impeachment is a waste of America’s time and the people of North Carolina are getting tired of it.”

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Tillis, however, is not the only Republican upset with the Democrats. A group of Republican Senators held a press conference Wednesday afternoon to criticize Democrats for the way they have been handling the impeachment process against Trump. (RELATED: Graham Rips Democrats Over Trump Impeachment Process: ‘I Wouldn’t Cooperate’)

“If I were the president I wouldn’t cooperate with these guys at all,” Graham said at the press conference. The South Carolina Senator was joined by Montana Sen. Steve Daines, and Indiana Sen. Mike Braun.

The comments come as Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell made a change to a resolution Tuesday that will lengthen Trump’s impeachment trial in the Senate by at least one day. (RELATED: EXCLUSIVE: We Asked Every GOP Senator About Impeachment. Seven Ruled It Out.)

The altered resolution will give both sides 24 hours to argue their case over three trial days instead of two as originally planned. Senators would then be given 16 hours for questioning. The schedule would mean a break from the previously scheduled 12-hour days of argument in the Senate. The impeachment trial could be over before Trump’s scheduled State of the Union address, on Feb. 4.

The House of Representatives officially voted Jan. 15 to send the articles of impeachment against Trump to the Senate and approved the House’s impeachment managers.