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Dear reader:

It鈥檚 looking increasingly likely that the House of Representatives will vote to impeach President Donald Trump 鈥� at which point, the action will shift to the Senate.

So far, most Republican senators have largely stuck to a 鈥渘o comment鈥� posture, pointing to their anticipated role as jurors in an impeachment trial. A few have expressed concern over details emerging about the president鈥檚 dealings with Ukraine.

But at this point, it seems highly unlikely that enough of them would vote against President Trump to achieve the required two-thirds vote to remove him from office. In fact, it鈥檚 as easy to envision certain Democratic senators voting against conviction (West Virginia Sen. Joe Manchin and Arizona Sen. Kyrsten Sinema come to mind) as it is Republicans voting for it.

Right now, most Republican senators seem to want to put the whole matter behind them. 鈥淓very indication is that articles [of impeachment] will be coming our way eventually," Sen. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., recently聽. "I just wish it was sooner rather than later."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell聽聽that the rules do require the Senate to take up articles of impeachment in the wake of a House vote, but he鈥檚 also indicated his desire for an expedited process.

Yet Republicans may not want the trial to be too quick 鈥� since it represents their chance to reframe the narrative in the run-up to next year鈥檚 election. Indeed, a Senate trial could take place right as Democratic primary voters are casting ballots for their nominee.

Interestingly, in a聽聽this week, Trump critics Lanny Davis and Anthony Scaramucci argue that there鈥檚 little point in holding a Senate trial with a preordained outcome, anyway.

鈥淲e believe the Senate should proceed to a trial only if at least 20 Republican senators announce beforehand that they are open-minded about removing Trump from office,鈥� write the former Clinton and Trump aides. Otherwise, they say, a trial would be a 鈥渨aste of time.鈥�

The op-ed may be an attempt to push GOP senators to declare publicly their independence from the president. But it also raises the possibility that some Democrats are worried the Senate phase of impeachment 鈥� with a trial controlled by Republicans 鈥� could hold downsides for their party.

Let us know what you鈥檙e thinking at聽csmpolitics@csmonitor.com.