The first part of the impeachment process, passing the articles through the House; took place while Donald Trump was still in office. The impeachment trial proper; which is held on the Senate Floor; is now scheduled to begin on Monday, Jan. 25. House Speaker Nany Pelosi will introduce the articles of impeachment on Monday; which will be a little different than what we seem with the first impeachment against Trump.
Back then, Republicans made political news by making it clear that they were not going to act on the articles of impeachment; basically killing the trial before it even began. This time around; Republican House Minority Speaker Mitch McConnell is singing a different tune, saying that that “it will be a full trial, a fair trial.” Trump became the first President to be impeached twice and will be the first to have a trial after he left office.
The timeline of the trial still remains up in the air
With most political experts believing that it could well be weeks before we see any kind of resolution. The problem for the Senate is that there is still a lot of business to take care of while the impeachment trial is taken place; new cabinet members need to be approved and sworn in; as well as dealing with bills that President Biden deems to be a top priority.
With so much going on at the moment; Mitch McConnell floated the idea of pushing off the trial until February, but Biden seems to be intent on getting things started as quickly as possible. He is of the belief that the Senate can do both; but he will be talking to Mitch McConnell about the potential length of the trial before it begins.
In truth, though; it will be McConnell and Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer who will dictate the timing and length of the impeachment trial. McConnell has suggested that the President’s defense team would need a couple of weeks to prepare for the trial; which would see arguments begin somewhere in the middle of next month. Following that timeline; it would likely be possible that the Senate could work on some of the other big issues within that time.
While trump was acquitted by the Republican-led Senate last time out; things may prove to be a little different now that the Democrats have control, which may be why they are so keen to move forward quickly.
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