BREAKING NEWS: Chuck Schumer says Nancy Pelosi will send the Senate Donald Trump’s impeachment article on Monday meaning his trial could begin on Tuesday
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will deliver a House-passed impeachment article to the Senate Monday – kicking off a Senate trial for former President Donald Trump as President Joe Biden begins the first week of his presidency and seeks to get a cabinet confirmed and move his agenda.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced Pelosi’s move on the Senate floor Friday at the start of the day’s session, after new Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell put out a proposal that would have delayed a trial until mid February in part to give Trump’s legal team time to prepare.
‘I have spoken to Speaker Pelosi who informed me that the articles will be delivered to the Senate on Monday.’ Schumer listed impeachment along with other pressing business.
Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced Pelosi’s decision to transmit an impeachment article to the Senate
‘The Senate must and will do all three: COVID relief, confirmation of nominees, and impeachment trial,’ he said from the floor.
‘The Senate will conduct a trial on the impeachment of Donald Trump, said Schumer said. ‘It will be a fair trial. But make no mistake, there will be a trial.’
Trump will be the first U.S. president to be impeached twice, and the first to face an impeachment trial after leaving office.
Pelosi’s move means the Senate will at least ceremonially begin the trial Tuesday, when senators are sworn in to be essentially jurors and the Senate formally accepts the article to form a court of impeachment.
A series of prominent lawyers who have worked with Trump in the past have said they will not be taking part in the impeachment trial.
He no longer has the benefit of having a White House counsel to defend him as he did when he was in office.
Trump will be represented by South Carolina attorney Karl ‘Butch’ Bowers, who was identified by Trump ally Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.), who will serve as a juror weighing Trump’s fate in the trial. Bowers has represented former South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley and and former Gov. Mark Sanford.
Schumer and McConnell have already begun negotiations for how a trial might proceed – amid Democratic concerns that the trial could sap momentum for Biden’s early moves. To date he has a single member of his cabinet confirmed.
And with leaders also negotiating on a power-sharing agreement for the 50-50 Senate amid McConnell’s procedural demands, Democrats don’t yet have the authority to quickly push through nominations either.
Pelosi’s decision comes a day after she was coy when asked about when she might send over an article. There are already signs that the end of Trump’s tenure could be having an impact on Republican fury at Trump after a MAGA mob ransacked the Capitol.
The Hill reported at most five or six Republicans might vote for impeachment, based on some lawmakers’ assessments. Republicans have seen the political blowback at House GOP Conference Chair Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted for impeachment and issued a blistering statement, only to see a challenge forming to her own leadership post.
Two-thirds of senators would have to vote for Trump to be convicted. After that happened, a majority vote could prevent him from ever holding public office – at a time when he has maintained a grip over the Republican Party.
McConnell had been seeking a delay of the articles until next week, in a plan he released Thursday. “Senate Republicans are strongly united behind the principle that the institution of the Senate, the office of the presidency, and former President Trump himself all deserve a full and fair process that respects his rights and the serious factual, legal, and constitutional questions at stake,” he said.
The House impeached Trump for ‘incitement of insurrection’ following his remarks to supporters who later trashed the Capitol. Trump had told them to ‘fight like hell,’ after spending two months calling the election ‘rigged’ and claiming he won.
More than 100 House Republicans voted to overturn election results even after members of the mob stormed the House floor. It was later revealed members of the mob chanted to ‘hang Mike Pence’ and smashed windows.