Senate Republicans are telling President Trump Donald John TrumpFederal prosecutor speaks out, says Barr 'has brought shame' on Justice Dept. Former Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick MORE’s defense team to prepare for a full Senate trial, stating that any motion for an early dismissal of impeachment charges likely won’t have the votes to pass.

The warnings are a tacit acknowledgement that it would be politically risky to simply discard articles of impeachment — even though all Senate Republicans may ultimately opt to acquit the president.

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Sen. John Cornyn John CornynHillicon Valley: Productivity, fatigue, cybersecurity emerge as top concerns amid pandemic | Facebook critics launch alternative oversight board | Google to temporarily bar election ads after polls close Lawmakers introduce legislation to boost cybersecurity of local governments, small businesses On The Trail: Making sense of this week's polling tsunami MORE (R-Texas), an adviser to the Senate GOP leadership and a member of the Senate Judiciary and Intelligence committees, on Wednesday said a vote to immediately dismiss articles of impeachment and avoid a trial won’t work.

“There’s some people talking about trying to stop the bill, dismiss charges basically as soon as they get over here. I think that’s not going to happen. That would require 51 votes,” Cornyn told reporters Wednesday. “I think it would be hard to find 51 votes to cut the case off before the evidence is presented.”

Sen. Rand Paul Randal (Rand) Howard PaulRon Paul hospitalized in Texas The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by Facebook - Trump previews SCOTUS nominee as 'totally brilliant' Rand Paul says he can't judge 'guilt or innocence' in Breonna Taylor case MORE (Ky.), a staunch Trump ally, is one Republican senator said to be thinking about advancing a motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment even though it is likely to fall well short of the 51 votes needed to pass. A spokesman for Paul on Wednesday declined to comment.

McConnell told GOP colleagues during a lunch meeting last month that any motion to dismiss would be reserved for the impeachment manager and the president’s defense team.

During former President Clinton’s 1999 Senate trial, late Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.) offered a motion to dismiss the articles of impeachment, but it failed by a vote of 44-56. Every single Democrat except for then-Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.) voted for the motion to dismiss.

Senate Republicans, even though they control 53 seats, don’t think there would be enough unity within their conference to dismiss charges against Trump before the prosecutors and defense have a chance to lay out their arguments and senators have a chance to ask questions and deliberate.

Sen. Mike Braun Michael BraunTrump plans to pick Amy Coney Barrett to replace Ginsburg on court Trump dumbfounds GOP with latest unforced error Pessimism grows as hopes fade for coronavirus deal MORE (R-Ind.) said he wants a sense of closure that would come from a full trial that results in an up-or-down vote on whether to convict or acquit the president on the charges.

“I think that if it does come over to the Senate that we should afford due process to the whole journey, where that hasn’t been done coming to this point,” he said, noting that his GOP colleagues want to provide a counterpoint to what they see as the partisan House proceedings.

Braun said passing a motion to immediately dismiss articles of impeachment “would be, probably, the wrong thing to do” because it would not “clear the slate” of allegations against the president.

“My opinion would be that we’ve come this far and it probably ought to be heard,” he said.

Sen. James Lankford James Paul LankfordMcConnell works to lock down GOP votes for coronavirus bill Charities scramble to plug revenue holes during pandemic Warren calls for Postal Service board members to fire DeJoy or resign MORE (R-Okla.) said, “I think we should go through with the process.”

Cornyn stated that “the better course would be to let each side have their say and then have the Senate vote and see if they can meet the two-thirds threshold” to convict the president on impeachment articles.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' House to vote on resolution affirming peaceful transition of power Republican lawyers brush off Trump's election comments MORE (R-Ky.) later told reporters that he has no plans to avoid a trial.

“I don’t think there’s any question that we have to take up the matter. The rules of impeachment are very clear we’ll have to have a trial,” said McConnell, who was similarly critical of the motion to dismiss Clinton’s 1999 impeachment trial.

“My own view is that we should give people an opportunity to put the case on. The House will have presenters. The president will no doubt be represented by lawyers as well,” he added.

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Senate Republican Whip John Thune John Randolph ThuneHouse to vote on resolution affirming peaceful transition of power Trump dumbfounds GOP with latest unforced error Senate passes resolution reaffirming commitment to peaceful transition of power MORE (S.D.) said “people want to fulfill their constitutional responsibility ... We would have to do what the Constitution calls for the Senate to do and that is to hear the arguments, to listen, to take it seriously.”

“My guess would be that our members are going to want, I think, [to] at least move forward,” he added. “The consensus in our conference is at least that we need to proceed and take seriously the responsibility we have under the Constitution.”

Republican senators made their comments Wednesday as two senior State Department officials, William Taylor and George Kent, two men with detailed knowledge of U.S.-Ukraine policy, delivered several hours of testimony before the House Intelligence Committee.

McConnell told reporters that he did not watch the open impeachment hearing Wednesday, but other Republicans, such as Sen. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsDemocratic senator to party: 'A little message discipline wouldn't kill us' Poll: 57 percent of Americans think next president, Senate should fill Ginsburg vacancy On The Trail: Making sense of this week's polling tsunami MORE (Maine), are keeping abreast of the developments in the House to prepare for a trial.

“I’m definitely reading materials. I’ve started reviewing the transcripts. My staff is doing summaries of some of the witnesses. I’ve asked them to compile each day the major moments in the hearings in the House,” Collins said.

Wednesday was a pivotal day in the House impeachment process, as it marked the first open hearing after weeks of closed-door investigations that Republicans in both chambers had criticized for lacking due process.

Taylor, the top American diplomat to Ukraine, testified that U.S. Ambassador to the European Union Gordon Sondland told his staff in July that Trump cared more about spurring an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenFormer Pence aide: White House staffers discussed Trump refusing to leave office Progressive group buys domain name of Trump's No. 1 Supreme Court pick Bloomberg rolls out M ad buy to boost Biden in Florida MORE than he cared about Ukraine.

Kent, the deputy assistant secretary of State for European and Eurasian affairs, testified that Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Giuliani Rudy GiulianiThe Hill's Campaign Report: GOP set to ask SCOTUS to limit mail-in voting CIA found Putin 'probably directing' campaign against Biden: report Democrats fear Russia interference could spoil bid to retake Senate MORE’s effort to “gin up politically motivated investigations” had infected U.S.-Ukraine policy. Kent also described his awareness of a “campaign to smear” former U.S. Ambassador to Ukraine Marie Yovanovitch, whom Trump then recalled.

Democrats hope the public hearing will build public support for impeachment by laying out detailed testimony before a national television audience about what steps Trump took to damage Biden, a front-runner in the Democratic presidential primary.

“It’s possible that we can go through this entire public hearing process and nothing will move. It’s also possible that things will change,” said a Democratic senator who requested anonymity to discuss the political stakes of the House hearings.