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With a presidential resignation no longer a serious option, many in the Congress and elsewhere in Washington figure that impeachment by the House is a foregone conclusion, though it is far too early to predict the outcome of the Senate trial. To speed up the process, Democratic House leaders plan to pass the remaining appropriations bills before July 1, thus allowing the Representatives to give complete attention to impeachment. The leaders' current timetable calls for the House Judiciary Committee to finish its investigation by the end of June and if it votes an impeachment resolution as expected, for the full House to vote on the matter by July 31. If articles of impeachment are approved, Nixon will be given a month to plan his defense, enabling the Senate to begin the trial by Sept. 3the day after Labor Day. Although the Senators will meet six days a week with no recess for the fall campaigns, the leaders are not certain a verdict can be reached by Election Day, Nov. 5. At all costs, they want to keep the trial from going on into next year, when the 93rd Congress expires and the 94th begins. If that happens, some congressional experts believe that the impeachment process might have to start all over again, an unthinkable prospect.
