The impeachment end is near

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THE TRIAL FILES -- President Donald Trump is on the fast track for a speedy acquittal. After the John Bolton bombshell created a brief moment of suspense in the Capitol, Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) — a key potential swing vote — announced he would not call for impeachment witnesses, essentially putting a nail in the coffin for the Democratic-led effort to bring in new evidence. His reasoning? Trump’s actions were inappropriate, but not impeachable. “Even if the House charges were true, they do not meet the Constitution’s ‘treason, bribery, or other high crimes and misdemeanors’ standard for an impeachable offense,” he said.

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), however, said she would support hearing from witnesses. Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) is also expected to join her and the 47 Senate Democrats. But Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska) is still on the fence — she was planning to put in "eye drops" and read her notes last night. She will ultimately decide whether the vote ends in a tie or there is a simple majority against witnesses. Either way, GOP leaders are feeling confident. “Tomorrow’s a big day,” said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) as he left the Capitol last night. The dispatch from Burgess, Marianne and Bres: https://politi.co/391FnLX.

Yikes … Collins’ office released some of the abusive and threatening voicemails she has been receiving ahead of the impeachment vote — reminiscent of the days leading up to the confirmation of Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh. More from the Free Beacon’s Cameron Cawthorne: http://bit.ly/2GIFgbX.

So, how will today go down? The Senate will have four hours to debate whether to bring in new witnesses, with a vote expected around 5 or 6 p.m. If that motion fails, as expected, the chamber will likely move to a final vote. But Democrats are still debating whether to force a bunch of procedural motions and tough votes, which will basically determine if the acquittal vote goes late into the night or early morning. “I don't think Chuck’s made a final decision,” said Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). The Hill’s Jordain Carney has a rundown: http://bit.ly/2UfBQFl.

Related reads: “Mitt Romney, a Man Alone,” by NYT’s Mark Leibovich: https://nyti.ms/2tfxuDb; and “At-risk Republicans push for swift end to Senate trial,” via Marianne: https://politi.co/2S4IUlM.

BIDEN RULE 2 -- As a senator in 1999, Joe Biden argued strongly against the need to depose additional witnesses or seek new evidence, according to a memo obtained by Bres and Burgess. “The Senate may dismiss articles of impeachment without holding a full trial or taking new evidence. Put another way, the Constitution does not impose on the Senate the duty to hold a trial,” Biden wrote at the time. “In light of the extensive record already compiled, it may be that the benefit of receiving additional evidence or live testimony is not great enough to outweigh the public costs (in terms of national prestige, faith in public institutions, etc.) of such a proceeding.”

Biden’s position is at odds with current Democratic talking points that additional witnesses must be called to get to the bottom of Trump’s actions in the Ukraine saga. And the GOP is already seizing on the memo, with Republicans asking about this story during the impeachment trial within an hour of it posting. (It’s worth pointing out that Republicans now oppose witnesses in Trump’s trial after they argued strongly for them in Clinton’s.) The scoop: https://politi.co/37MaACi.

CRUZ CONTROL -- Sen. Ted Cruz is trying to take impeachment coverage into his own hands. The Texas Republican has been recording a nightly podcast after the trial, called “Verdict with Ted Cruz”, that has risen to the top of the charts with over one million downloads. “He threaded the needle by showing an enthusiastic defense of the president and at the same time has generated hundreds of thousands of listeners to his message that he may be able to utilize down the road,” said Ron Bonjean, a former spokesman for Republican House and Senate leadership. The WSJ’s Andrew Duehren with more: https://on.wsj.com/36IAwh3.

Related: “Legal Pads, Photographs and a Podcast: How Senators Are Documenting Impeachment,” by NYT’s Emily Cochrane: https://nyti.ms/2S5KEuV.

HAPPY FRI-YAY! Welcome to Huddle, the play-by-play guide to all things Capitol Hill, on this January 31, where it's nice to know that at least Triumph the Insult Comic Dog isn't suffering from the new press restrictions in the Capitol.

THURSDAY’S MOST CLICKED: Kyle, Andrew and Darren’s highlights of the impeachment trial Q&A was the big winner.

MAKE IT REIN, MITCH -- The House passed a package of measures to rein in Trump’s war powers in Iran, sending it over to the Senate. But the resolutions are not privileged, meaning Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) is not required to take them up. Still, the passage of the resolutions in the House were a huge victory for progressive lawmakers like Reps. Barbara Lee (Calif.) and Ro Khanna (Calif.), who have tried for years to rein in presidential powers.

While the White House issued a veto threat, Trump had also urged lawmakers on Twitter to “vote their heart.” But just four Republicans voted for Khanna’s resolution, which would prohibit funding for military action in Iran without congressional approval. And 11 Republicans supported Lee’s resolution, which would repeal the 2002 authorization for the use of military force. Jesse Naranjo with the story: https://politi.co/3aY53up.

Related: “Here are the lawmakers who defected on Iran legislation,” per The Hill’s Juliegrace Brufke: http://bit.ly/36MbVaW.

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COLLINS CONTINUED -- More GOP women are picking sides in the Georgia Senate race, where Rep. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) will be facing off against Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.). "I've enjoyed getting to know @kloeffler during our time together on the Senate floor. She is a solid conservative who loves her state & will stand tall for our conservative values,” tweeted Sen. Deb Fischer (R-Neb.). “GA knows she's tough & not afraid of a fight. I look forward to continuing to serve with her.”

And on the Dem side … Stacey Abrams, a rising star on the left, endorsed Rev. Raphael Warnock, the senior pastor at Atlanta's historic Ebenezer Baptist Church who recently threw his name into the running for the Georgia Senate race. Abrams' endorsement is a major boost for Warnock out of the starting gates. Democrats are hoping to consolidate support around a single candidate in the race and take advantage of the split in the GOP over Collins and Loeffler. James Arkin with the latest: https://politi.co/3b1uKu3.

Related: “For Senator Kelly Loeffler, Impeachment Is an Early Proving Ground,” by NYT’s Catie Edmondson: https://nyti.ms/37IOwIQ.

KEEP YOUR EARMARKS TO THE GROUND -- Democrats have long mulled the idea of bringing back congressional earmarks — and a final decision is likely to come next week, according to the chairwoman of the House Appropriations Committee. “We are just having discussions and we’ll see the response next week,” said Rep. Nita Lowey (D-N.Y.). Appropriators want to make a decision before they start working on the next round of spending bills.

At least some front-line Democrats are wary of reviving earmarks, which they worry could turn themselves into easy targets on the right. But there is also a potential upside: earmarks make it far easier to secure money for pet projects back home. Plus, Democrats are vowing to include earmark reforms to ensure more transparency and avoid accusations of "pork barrel" spending. The deets from Roll Call’s Jennifer Shutt: http://bit.ly/2S591ZR.

SOTU PREVIEW … “Trump team plans a non-impeachment State of the Union,” via Gabby Orr: https://politi.co/2UfEXgG.

WEEKLY WINNERS AND LOSERS -- As they say in sports: no early celebrations. But it certainly looks like Trump and the GOP will soon have plenty to celebrate, with the end of the impeachment trial so close you can almost taste it. Here are our picks for the top victories and failures:

W: Trump and McConnell, who (mostly) kept the GOP conference in line on impeachment, despite the Bolton bombshell earlier this week. And soon, the Senate GOP will be delivering a speedy acquittal to the president — just in time for his State of the Union address.

L: Democrats, who most likely lost the fight over hauling in new documents and first-hand witnesses. But Bolton’s testimony may come out anyway when his book drops in March — and Democrats are hoping it backfires politically on the GOP.

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TRANSITIONS

Scott Luginbill is joining the Republican National Convention in Charlotte to handle congressional affairs. He currently is COS to Rep. Mark Walker (R-N.C.).

Amanda Maddox, who served as communications director for Sen. Johnny Isakson (R-Ga.) before he left the Senate at the end of last year, is leaving the Hill. She'll be a managing director for public affairs at PLUS Communications, the sister firm to FP1 Strategies started last year to handle corporate communications and public affairs work. She was an aide to Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.) and former Reps. Jeff Denham (R-Calif.) and Nan Hayworth (R-N.Y.) before working for Isakson.

Julie Dunne, former staff director on the government operations subcommittee of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has been named commissioner of the General Services Administration's Federal Acquisition Service.

The Herald Group is adding Kevin Manning as a director and Christian Healy as an account manager. Manning most recently was press secretary and deputy director of public affairs at the Commerce Department. Healy most recently was a senior policy adviser to Rep. Guy Reschenthaler (R-Pa.).

Sen. Kelly Loeffler (R-Ga.) is staffing up. Kerry Rom is joining as communications director from Rep. Dan Crenshaw's (R-Texas) office. Nadgey Louis-Charles will be press secretary — she's joining from Rep. Jody Hice's (R-Ga.) office. Tatum Wallace from Crenshaw's office will be deputy press secretary.

TODAY IN CONGRESS

The House is out.

The Senate reconvenes at 1 p.m. and resumes sitting as a court of impeachment for the trial of Trump. The senators will debate and vote on the question of witnesses.

AROUND THE HILL

Nada.

TRIVIA

THURSDAY’S WINNER: Erik Ackerson was the first person to guess that when Mister Rogers testified in front of Congress to advocate for public television funding, he successfully changed the mind of Sen. John O. Pastore. (And you can check out a clip of his moving testimony here: http://bit.ly/2tcjKJv.)

TODAY’S QUESTION: From Erik: Which former NFL player for both the Detroit Lions and Pittsburgh Steelers once served as United States Deputy Attorney General and was later nominated to serve as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court? The first person to correctly guess gets a mention in the next edition of Huddle. Send your best guess my way at mzanona@politico.com.

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