CLINTON TRIAL MAY BE LOSING STEAM.

Byline: Lizette Alvarez and Frank Bruni The New York Times

With a small, but increasingly important, number of Republicans expressing reservations about the wisdom of calling witnesses, Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., a leading authority on Senate traditions, said on Friday that President Clinton's impeachment trial should come to a swift end, and he announced that he would offer a motion to dismiss the charges next week.

``I am convinced that the necessary two-thirds for conviction are not there and that they are not likely to develop,'' Byrd said in a one-page statement, adding, ``I do not believe that witnesses will add anything of consequence to this process.''

But Sen. Orrin Hatch, the Utah Republican who heads the Judiciary Committee, said the Senate should wait until witnesses were deposed before deciding whether the trial should be halted. But if it is clear then that the constitutionally required two-thirds vote to convict and remove the president cannot be found, he said, the Senate should simply adjourn the trial. He said the Senate would not need a censure but would ``acknowledge that the impeachment vote in the House is the highest form of condemnation.''

Although neither proposal won quick support from the other party, the two senators' comments suggested that the Senate's center of gravity was shifting as the body appeared hungrier than ever for a graceful exit from a potentially prolonged trial.

While Byrd's motion still seemed unlikely to get the Republican votes needed to pass, his decision was a blow to Republicans who had hoped his traditionalism would lead him to support the call for a full trial.

Meetings, meetings

On Friday, all morning long, small clutches of Democratic and Republican senators met away from the Senate chamber, in hallways and small offices, searching for a plan acceptable to both parties and then reporting back to their leaders.

The Senate is expected to debate on Monday whether to dismiss the charges against Clinton and whether to depose witnesses. A vote on dismissal and, if that fails, on witnesses would come next, but perhaps not until Tuesday.

Hatch called Byrd's motion premature and said he thought it would fail. But he said his idea was ``just another way of resolving these problems.''

But Sen. Thomas A. Daschle, the Democratic leader, quickly responded that ``every single Democrat'' would oppose Hatch's motion because it leaves the charges against Clinton unresolved. ``There must be a definite determination on the case,'' Daschle said.

Hatch's proposal could prove problematic to many Republicans as well, most of whom want to cast final votes on the two articles of impeachment. ``I think we should have the opportunity for each senator to stand and face the other 99 and simply say yea or nay on the ultimate question,'' said Sen. John Warner, R-Va.

Decision soon

The first turning point in the case, however, could come as early as next week, when the Senate takes up the question of depositions. For the past several weeks, it has been evident that most Republicans favor taking depositions from witnesses, hoping, they say, that people like Monica Lewinsky and Betty Currie, Clinton's secretary, could clear up contradictory testimony.

But several Republicans reiterated their concerns on Friday about deposing witnesses, a sign that at least a few senators in the party are nervous about prolonging the trial. The group is pivotal because it would take six or more Republicans to block a motion next week to depose witnesses.

``Everybody is having conversations,'' Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said. ``It's the largest group of negotiations in the Senate's history.''

Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., said he believed there were four or five Republicans who had an ``open mind'' on voting to dismiss the charges. ``But whether they actually vote for it or I vote for it remains to be seen,'' he added.

``They are going to have to persuade me that what the witnesses are going to have to say is new,'' Shelby said. ``More of the same - we don't need that.''

Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, echoed Shelby's cautiousness, saying, ``I have to be persuaded that there should be witnesses.''

And, in a hallway interview, Sen. Bob Graham, D-Fla., said: ``There is a substantial core of moderates in both parties who would like to find an endgame, sooner rather than later. A dozen or so of us are speaking among ourselves.''

Despite some concerns over witnesses, House managers are moving ahead with their plan to try to persuade the Senate to call Clinton as a witness. On Friday, in a letter to the Senate's Republican and Democratic leaders, Rep. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., who heads the House Judiciary Committee, said the president ``is the only individual with knowledge of almost every material fact relevant to the trial.''

Senate Republican leaders have not decided whether to extend an invitation to Clinton.

Major test

Recognizing that Senate bipartisanship will face its second major test next week, Sen. Trent Lott, the majority leader from Mississippi, said on Friday that he was considering holding another joint caucus in the Old Senate Chamber to talk through the next stage of the trial. His counterpart, Daschle, said he would not be averse to such a caucus.

But of all the day's developments, it was Byrd's announcement that he would be the one to offer a dismissal motion that prompted the quickest, most partisan reaction among senators. The motion would end the trial summarily, without a vote on whether to convict or acquit.

The announcement resonated with both parties because Byrd, who has been sharply critical of Clinton's behavior, is esteemed as a constitutional scholar and had remained undecided on the question of witnesses.

Democrats immediately championed the decision, predicting that Byrd might influence some Republicans to vote with Democrats to dismiss the charges. ``He's among the members we suggest and look to for leadership,'' said Sen. John Breaux, D-La.

But Republicans took a different view.

Sen. Phil Gramm of Texas, with Lott's endorsement, held an instant news conference after Byrd's statement to rebut it. ``I believe that Senator Byrd's motion to end the trial is inappropriate,'' he said. ``I think it will be defeated. I believe this trial will go the distance.''

A roster of other Republicans followed suit. Sen. John Chafee, R-R.I., and Hatch said they did not think the measure would pass the Senate. And Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky called for the motion's defeat.

``There's no one in the U.S. Senate with more respect than Senator Byrd,'' said Rep. Mike DeWine, R-Ohio. But, he added, ``I am not deciding this case without the evidence coming in.''

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PHOTO Sen. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., said he would move to dismiss the charges against President Clinton.

Khue Bui/Associated Press