TRUMP
What happens now?
WASHINGTON: Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell’s increasingly chilly view of Donald Trump could make it easier for other Republican politicians to turn against him.
Mr McConnell has pointedly not ruled out he might eventually vote to convict the now twiceimpeached president, but he has also blocked a quick Senate impeachment trial.
Minutes after the House voted 232197 yesterday to impeach Mr Trump, Mr McConnell said in a letter to his Republican colleagues he had not determined whether Mr Trump should be convicted in the Senate’s upcoming proceedings.
The House impeachment articles charge that Mr Trump incited insurrection by exhorting supporters who violently attacked the Capitol last week, resulting in five deaths and a disruption of Congress.
‘‘I have not made a final decision on how I will vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate,’’
Mr McConnell wrote.
His openness was a stark contrast to the support, or at times silence, he had shown during much of Mr Trump’s presidency, and to the opposition he expressed rapidly when the House impeached Mr Trump 13 months ago.
Mr McConnell will be Washington’s most powerful Republican once Democratic Presidentelect Joe Biden is inaugurated, and his increasingly chilly view of Mr Trump could make it easier for other Republican politicians to turn against him.
Mr McConnell’s burgeoning alienation from Mr Trump, plus the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach him, underscored how the party’s long, reflexive support and condoning of Mr Trump’s actions was eroding.
Mr McConnell also issued a statement saying Congress and the Government should spend the next week ‘‘completely focused on facilitating a safe inauguration and an orderly transfer of power’’ to Mr Biden.
He suggested Mr Trump’s Senate trial would begin no earlier than Wednesday — in effect rejecting a drive by the chamber’s Democrats to begin the proceedings immediately so Mr Trump can be ousted from office.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said unless Mr McConnell agreed to start the trial quickly, it would begin after Wednesday.
That is the day before Mr Biden is inaugurated as president and about the time Democrats take over majority control of the Senate.
The timetable essentially means Mr McConnell is dropping the trial into Democrats’ laps.
‘‘Make no mistake, there will be an impeachment trial in the United States Senate,’’ Mr Schumer said.
‘‘If the president is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him from running again.’’
The Constitution requires a twothirds majority of those present to convict a president, meaning at least 17 Republicans — if all 50 were present — would need to join all 50 Democrats to oust Mr Trump.
If he was convicted, it would take only a simple majority of the Senate to prohibit Mr Trump, who has mentioned running again in 2024, from holding federal office again. — AAP