Senate Is Expected To Accept Articles Of Impeachment As Trial Is Set To Begin
UPDATE:
Two days after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that preparations for the impeachment trial will begin this week, the House voted to send two articles of impeachment to the Senate.
The Senate is expected to formally accept the articles of impeachment, which key members of the House handed off late Wednesday (Jan. 15).
ABC News reports that House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff will take the lead role in reading the articles of impeachment against Donald Trump in the Senate chamber sometime in the afternoon on Thursday (Jan. 16).
It’s expected that Chief Justice John Roberts will then travel from the Supreme Court to be sworn in to preside over the Senate impeachment trial, marking the third in presidential history, ABC News reports.
After the swearing-in by Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, Roberts is expected to swear in all 100 senators, ABC News reports.
The trial will likely begin on Tuesday, Jan. 21, according to Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
According to several senators, ABC News reports, they are all expected to be in attendance for the duration of the trial, which is expected to last at least two to three weeks.
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that preparations for the impeachment trial will begin this week.
The Washington Post reports that Pelosi said there will be a vote Wednesday on a resolution appointing House impeachment managers and transmitting the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
This will allow the trial of President Trump to begin this week, the Washington Post reports.
However, it’s still up in the air whether the trial will include witnesses and who might be summoned to testify as senators in the chamber controlled by Majority Leader Mitch McConnell have been maneuvering behind the scenes, the Washington Post reports.
Senate Majority Whip John Thune is doubtful the trial will begin this week, the Washington Post reports. He expects the Senate will engage in preliminary aspects this week but won’t begin the trial until after the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday weekend.
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“I suspect that what will happen is, we’ll do the swearing in and all that ... and then probably start the trial next week, I would guess,” Thune told the Washington Post. “My guess is that we’ll preserve the holiday, and we’ll be back the day after.”
The Washington Post reports that Trump is scheduled to deliver a State of the Union address in the House chamber on Feb. 4, and Thune said it’s unclear whether the trial will be completed by that time.
