Setting trial date
Trump’s impeachment proceedings in Senate could begin on Inauguration Day
WASHINGTON – President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial could begin on Inauguration Day, next Wednesday, just as Democrat Joe Biden takes the oath of office.
The timing is not set and depends heavily on when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi decides to transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate. Democrats hoping to avoid interrupting Biden’s inauguration have suggested holding back until the new president has a chance to get his administration going.
The trial will be the first off its kind or a president no longer in office. And, politically, it will force a reckoning among some Republicans who have stood by Trump throughout his presidency and largely allowed him to spread false attacks against the integrity of the 2020 election.
“The only path to any reunification of this broken and divided country is by shining a light on the truth,” said Rep. Madeleine Dean, D-PA., who will serve as an impeachment manager. “That’s what the impeachment vote was. That’s what the trial in the Senate will be about.”
Trump was impeached Wednesday by the House over the deadly siege of the Capitol by a pro-trump mob Jan. 6. That makes him the only president in U.S. history impeached twice.
Senate Republican leader Mitch Mcconnell is open to considering a vote to convict, having told associates he is done with Trump, but he has not signaled how he would vote.
The Republican leader holds great sway in his party even though convening the trial will be among his last acts as majority leader.
Two new senators from Georgia, both Democrats, are to be sworn into office, leaving the chamber divided 50-50. That tips the majority to the Democrats once Kamala Harris takes office, as the vice president is a tie-breaker in the Senate.
No president has ever been convicted in the Senate, and it would take a twothirds vote against Trump, an extremely tall hurdle. But it’s not out of the realm of possibility, especially as corporations and wealthy political donors distance themselves from Trump and the Repub licans who stood by his attempt to overturn the election.
At least four Republican senators have publicly expressed grave concerns about Trump’s actions, and others say the same privately.
Under Senate procedure, the trial is to start soon after the House delivers the article of impeachment. That could mean starting at 1 p.m. on Inauguration Day. The ceremony at the Capitol starts at noon.
Pelosi has not said when she will transmit the impeachment article, with a sole charge of incitement of insurrection.
Biden has said the Senate should be able to split its time and do both – hold the trial and start working on his priorities, including swift confirmation of his Cabinet nominees.