Impeachment vote is likely soon in House

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Impeachment proceedings against President Clinton are headed for a December finale in the House amid doubts about whether lawmakers have the votes to impeach or the will to censure.

The House is expected to vote in mid-December on whether to send articles of impeachment to the Senate. House Majority Whip Tom DeLay, R-Texas, said Sunday on CNN's "Late Edition" that he thought a majority of 218 would vote to impeach. But other Republicans said they did not have the votes.House Judiciary Committee hearings resume Tuesday with testimony from convicted perjurers, some of whom have served jail terms. Democrats say it is meaningless because there is no proof that Clinton perjured himself about his sexual relationship with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky and no legal basis for equating perjury with impeachment.

A more pivotal hearing could be on Dec. 8, when the Judiciary Committee chairman, Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., has invited Clinton or his representatives to testify. The White House has not decided how to respond to the invitation.

A Republican official, who asked not to be named, said the committee expects to depose White House deputy counsel Bruce Lindsey this week but might cancel plans to question Robert Bennett, Clinton's lawyer in the Paula Jones sexual harassment case.

Congressional Democrats and White House officials were promoting censure or some lesser punishment.

"We continue to hope that a bipartisan consensus emerges in the House to reflect what is a broad and bipartisan public view that the allegations do not warrant impeachment," White House spokesman Jim Kennedy said.

The Senate Judiciary Committee chairman, Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, said on ABC's "This Week" that he saw a "50-50 chance" that the House would refer articles of impeachment to the Senate. He said he would meet with Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss., Democratic leader Tom Daschle of South Dakota and others to prepare for that possibility.

Censure becomes an option if it is clear the Senate does not have the two-thirds, or 67 votes, to convict, Hatch said.