"Sadly, Leader McConnell has made clear that his loyalty is to the President and not the Constitution," Pelosi later wrote in a letter to Democrats. "It is important that he immediately publish this resolution, so that, as I have said before, we can see the arena in which we will be participating, appoint managers and transmit the articles to the Senate."

Pelosi’s refusal to transmit the articles across the Capitol extends an impasse between chambers: The House impeached Trump three weeks ago but the Senate remains stuck in a holding pattern, unable to begin its trial.

McConnell’s power play was intended, in part, to pressure Pelosi to send over the articles, which she’s been holding since the House impeached Trump Dec. 18, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. But Pelosi reiterated much of what she’s said in recent weeks to her caucus Tuesday night: She needs to know more about the “arena” in the Senate before moving forward.

"When it's going to be clarified, the speaker's going to clarify," House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer told reporters as he was bombarded with questions about the articles of impeachment. "The speaker is handling this."

But when — or how — Pelosi plans to relay that information remains a mystery to most members of her caucus.

During the meeting, Pelosi argued that senators swear an oath to the Constitution, not the president, and they should honor that promise, according to multiple Democrats in the room. Democrats were also handed a paper — obtained by POLITICO and referenced in Pelosi's letter — with several bullet points about “McConnell’s misleading claims about the Clinton trial process.”

Rep. Mike Thompson (D-Calif.) said Pelosi’s message is that McConnell has "taken liberty with the facts."

“It was just the process of her proposing [the articles] and how that was different from what happened in the Clinton administration,” Thompson added.

The message, Rep. Henry Cuellar (D-Texas) added, is, “It’s not a fair process — which, I agree with her.”

But the speaker’s next move on impeachment — which all of Washington has been waiting for since mid-December — was somewhat overshadowed by an escalation of tensions in the Middle East on Tuesday night after Iran launched a missile strike on a U.S. air base in Iraq.

Pelosi learned of the attack during the meeting, when an aide handed her a note saying Vice President Mike Pence was on the phone.

“Tell him I’ll call him back,” she said, according to sources in room, noting she needed to preside over the House floor for the new session of Congress. Two minutes later, she was handed a second note about the attack, which came in an apparent retaliation for Trump’s killing of a senior Iranian general last week.

The bombing in Iraq has further inflamed what was already a precarious political situation in the Middle East — one that has forced Trump and congressional leaders to keep one eye on Iran with the other on impeachment.