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Trump faces a second impeachment trial. Here’s how it could be different from the first.

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Former President Trump has the dubious honor of being the only president to be impeached twice, and is also the first to face a trial after leaving office, so the Senate will enter into uncharted constitutional waters when the impeachment trial begins next month.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Friday evening that the impeachment trial for Mr. Trump would begin on February 8. The House impeachment managers will deliver the single article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday, January 25. Senators will be sworn in as members of the impeachment court the following day, on Tuesday, January 26.

Both the impeachment managers and Mr. Trump’s attorneys will each have time to deliver legal briefs stating their cases, before the trial formally begins two weeks after the article was first delivered to the Senate. The extra time allows for both sides to prepare their presentations, and lets senators continue to confirm President Biden’s cabinet nominees before all regular Senate business halts while a trial is conducted.

Even though senators participated in an impeachment trial for Mr. Trump barely a year ago — the president was acquitted on February 5, 2020 — the upcoming trial is shaping up to be very different from the first.

The House impeached Mr. Trump the first time on December 18, 2019, after several weeks of hearings. The two articles of impeachment charged him with “Abuse of Power” and “Obstruction of Congress.” The vote to impeach was divided almost entirely along partisan lines, with only one independent voting to impeach Mr. Trump, and three Democrats voting against impeachment on at least one article.

The impeachment proceedings in the House this year were a far faster and more bipartisan affair. Mr. Trump was impeached a second time one week after he urged supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn the election ahead of Congress’ scheduled counting of the Electoral College results January 6. Following his speech at the rally, a mob of pro-Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, resulting in the deaths of five people. Congress didn’t return to count the Electoral College votes for six hours, and several Republican lawmakers still voted to overturn the election results in Pennsylvania and Arizona.

The resolution to impeach Mr. Trump was brought to the House floor on January 11, with the House forgoing the traditional process of holding hearings and conducting an investigation into any wrongdoing. There was only one article of impeachment this time, charging Mr. Trump with “Incitement of Insurrection.” Ten Republicans joined all 222 Democrats in voting to impeach Mr. Trump, bringing the vote to 232 to 197.

After Mr. Trump was impeached in 2019, Speaker Nancy Pelosi did not announce the impeachment managers until January 15, 2020, nearly a month later. This year, Pelosi announced the impeachment managers on the same day as the vote to impeach Mr. Trump, January 13, 2021.

In 2020, senators were sworn in by Chief Justice John Roberts as members of the impeachment court on January 16, and the trial began on Tuesday, January 21. Mr. Trump was acquitted almost exactly two weeks later, on February 5. Senator Mitt Romney, voted to convict the president one charge, “Abuse of Power,” the only Republican to vote to impeach Mr. Trump on either charge. 

This year’s trial is expected to be very different. Some Republicans have argued that it is unconstitutional to impeach a president who is no longer in office, but the Constitution does not specify whether a president needs to be in office to be impeached.

It is also unclear how long the second trial will last, or what evidence either side would choose to bring. Pelosi argued on Thursday that this impeachment trial would differ from Mr. Trump’s first impeachment trial, which was triggered by a call he made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in 2019 urging Ukraine to investigate then-candidate Joe Biden. Mr. Trump defended his call to Zelensky as “perfect.”

“This year, the whole world bore witness to the President’s incitement, to the execution of his call to action, and the violence that was used,” Pelosi said. “I do see a big difference between something that we all witnessed versus what information you might need to substantiate an Article of Impeachment based on, large part, on a call that the President made and described as ‘perfect.'”

Mr. Trump’s legal team has yet to be officially announced, but one of his lawyers will be South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers, who has experience representing politicians embroiled in scandals.

Although the chief justice of the Supreme Court traditionally presides over an impeachment trial in accordance with the constitution, Roberts may not want to participate in a second impeachment trial against Mr. Trump. In that case, Vice President Kamala Harris would preside over the trial as president of the Senate, or, if she opts against doing so, Senate president pro tempore Patrick Leahy would preside.

A two-thirds majority of the Senate, 67 votes, is required to convict the president. Democrats hold 50 seats in the Senate, and it is unlikely they could garner support from 17 Republicans to convict Mr. Trump, particularly since he is no longer in office. However, more Republicans may vote to convict Mr. Trump than in 2020, as he has been harshly criticized by some GOP senators for encouraging violence among his supporters on January 6.

If Mr. Trump were convicted by the Senate, Congress would then vote on whether to bar him from seeking elected office again. Only a simple majority is needed to bar him from holding office.

Many Republicans argue that holding a trial after Mr. Trump has left office is divisive, but Democrats counter that it is necessary to hold an impeachment trial for Mr. Trump in order to show that a president must be accountable for his actions even in his last month of his term in office.

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Trump impeachment trial to begin week of Feb. 8

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Opening arguments in the Senate impeachment trial for Donald Trump over the Capitol riot will begin the week of Feb. 8, the first time a former president will face such charges after leaving office.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced the schedule Friday evening after reaching an agreement with Republicans, who had pushed for a delay to give Trump a chance to organize his legal team and prepare a defense on the sole charge of incitement of insurrection.

The February start date also allows the Senate more time to confirm President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominations and consider his proposed $1.9 trillion COVID relief package — top priorities of the new White House agenda that could become stalled during trial proceedings.

“We all want to put this awful chapter in our nation’s history behind us,” Schumer said about the deadly Jan. 6 Capitol siege by a mob of pro-Trump supporters.

“But healing and unity will only come if there is truth and accountability. And that is what this trial will provide.”

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi will send the article of impeachment late Monday, with senators sworn in as jurors Tuesday. But opening arguments will move to February.

Trump’s impeachment trial would be the first of a U.S. president no longer in office, an undertaking that his Senate Republican allies argue is pointless, and potentially even unconstitutional. Democrats say they have to hold Trump to account, even as they pursue Biden’s legislative priorities, because of the gravity of what took place — a violent attack on the U.S. Congress aimed at overturning an election.

If Trump is convicted, the Senate could vote to bar him from holding office ever again, potentially upending his chances for a political comeback.

The urgency for Democrats to hold Trump responsible was complicated by the need to put Biden’s government in place and start quick work on his coronavirus aid package.

“The more time we have to get up and running … the better,” Biden said Friday in brief comments to reporters.

Republicans were eager to delay the trial, putting distance between the shocking events of the siege and the votes that will test their loyalty to the former president who still commands voters’ attention.

Negotiations between Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell were complicated, as the two are also in talks over a power-sharing agreement for the Senate, which is split 50-50 but in Democratic control because Vice President Kamala Harris serves as a tie-breaking vote.

McConnell had proposed delaying the start and welcomed the agreement.

“Republicans set out to ensure the Senate’s next steps will respect former President Trump’s rights and due process, the institution of the Senate, and the office of the presidency,” said McConnell spokesman Doug Andres. “That goal has been achieved.”

Pelosi said Friday the nine House impeachment managers, or prosecutors, are “ready to begin to make their case” against Trump. Trump’s team will have had the same amount of time since the House impeachment vote to prepare, Pelosi said.

Democrats say they can move quickly through the trial, potentially with no witnesses, because lawmakers experienced the insurrection first-hand.

One of the managers, California Rep. Ted Lieu, said Friday that Democrats would rather be working on policy right now, but “we can’t just ignore” what happened on Jan. 6.

“This was an attack on our Capitol by a violent mob,” Lieu said in an interview with The Associated Press. “It was an attack on our nation instigated by our commander in chief. We have to address that and make sure it never happens again.”

Trump, who told his supporters to “fight like hell” just before they invaded the Capitol two weeks ago and interrupted the electoral vote count, is still assembling his legal team.

White House press secretary Jen Psaki on Friday deferred to Congress on timing for the trial and would not say whether Biden thinks Trump should be convicted. But she said lawmakers can simultaneously discuss and have hearings on Biden’s coronavirus relief package.

“We don’t think it can be delayed or it can wait, so they’re going to have to find a path forward,” Psaki said of the virus aid. “He’s confident they can do that.”

Democrats would need the support of at least 17 Republicans to convict Trump, a high bar. While most Republican senators condemned Trump’s actions that day, far fewer appear to be ready to convict.

A handful of Senate Republicans have indicated they are open — but not committed — to conviction. But most have come to Trump’s defense as it relates to impeachment, saying they believe a trial will be divisive and questioning the legality of trying a president after he has left office.

South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally who has been helping him find lawyers, said Friday there is “a very compelling constitutional case” on whether Trump can be impeached after his term — an assertion Democrats reject, saying there is ample legal precedent. Graham also suggested Republicans will argue Trump’s words on Jan. 6 were not legally “incitement.”

“On the facts, they’ll be able to mount a defense, so the main thing is to give him a chance to prepare and run the trial orderly, and hopefully the Senate will reject the idea of pursuing presidents after they leave office,” Graham said.

Other Republicans had stronger words, suggesting there should be no trial at all. Wyoming Sen. John Barrasso said Pelosi is sending a message to Biden that “my hatred and vitriol of Donald Trump is so strong that I will stop even you and your Cabinet from getting anything done.” Wisconsin Sen. Ron Johnson suggested Democrats are choosing “vindictiveness” over national security as Biden attempts to set up his government.

McConnell, who said this week that Trump “provoked” his supporters before the riot, has not said how he will vote. He said Senate Republicans “strongly believe we need a full and fair process where the former president can mount a defense and the Senate can properly consider the factual, legal and constitutional questions.”

Trump, the first president to be impeached twice, is at a disadvantage compared with his first impeachment trial, in which he had the full resources of the White House counsel’s office to defend him. Graham helped Trump hire South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers after members of his past legal teams indicated they did not plan to join the new effort.

___

Associated Press writers Aamer Madhani in Washington, Meg Kinnard in Columbia, South Carolina, and Jill Colvin in West Palm Beach, Florida, contributed to this report.

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McCarthy says he told Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene he disagreed with her impeachment articles against Biden

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House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthyKevin McCarthyMcCarthy supports Cheney remaining in leadership amid calls for her to step down The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Biden hits the ground running on COVID Biden’s inauguration marked by conflict of hope and fear MORE (R-Calif.) said he spoke with Rep. Marjorie Greene (R-Ga.) about her efforts to move impeachment articles against newly-inaugurated President Biden.

In an interview with Greta Van Susteren, McCarthy said he disagreed with the first-term lawmaker’s efforts to oust Biden, but that she has a right to pursue impeachment.

“I called her. I disagree with that. That’s exactly what the Democrats did with President TrumpDonald TrumpIran’s leader vows ‘revenge,’ posting an image resembling Trump Former Sanders spokesperson: Biden ‘backing away’ from ‘populist offerings’ Justice Dept. to probe sudden departure of US attorney in Atlanta after Trump criticism MORE, and why we disagreed with when they wanted to come after him for purely political reasons,” McCarthy said. “I think Republicans are better than that. That this is one of the arguments we used against the Democrats, and I don’t think we should use it either.”

“She has a right to, as an elected member of Congress to submit those,” he added, “I just don’t think the timing and the case is right at this time, in this moment.”

Greene’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment from The Hill.

The Georgia lawmaker said Thursday — the first full day of the Biden administration — that she had filed the articles of impeachment.

The text of the articles was not immediately available, but she hinted they accuse Biden of abusing his power while serving as vice president by allowing his son, Hunter Biden, to serve on the board of a Ukrainian energy company. 

“President Joe BidenJoe BidenRev. Barber says best way to undercut extremism is with honesty Biden requires international travelers to quarantine upon arrival to US Overnight Defense: House approves waiver for Biden’s Pentagon nominee | Biden to seek five-year extension of key arms control pact with Russia | Two more US service members killed by COVID-19 MORE is unfit to hold the office of the presidency. His pattern of abuse of power as President Obama’s Vice President is lengthy and disturbing. President Biden has demonstrated that he will do whatever it takes to bail out his son, Hunter, and line his family’s pockets with cash from corrupt foreign energy companies,” Greene said in a statement.

Biden has denied that his son’s position swayed his policymaking during the Obama administration, and an investigation into the matter by Senate Republicans found no wrongdoing by either Biden.

Greene’s announcement Thursday came after the House voted last week to impeach then-President Trump, making him the first president in history to be impeached on two separate occasions. 

The intervention by the House’s top Republican comes as lawmakers on both sides of the aisle look to turn down the political temperature after the Jan. 6 violent riot at the Capitol that resulted in the deaths of several people.

Greene has made a splash on Capitol Hill since she was sworn into office earlier this month. Her candidacy drew national attention after it was revealed that she had made comments in support of the outlandish QAnon conspiracy theory, and she has used her time in Washington to rail against masks and promote disputed claims that the presidential election was marred by widespread fraud.



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Prospects of convicting Trump erode as GOP grows vocal against Senate impeachment proceedings

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After Democratic leaders announced they would kick off the process to begin the impeachment trial on Monday, Republicans grew sharply critical about the proceedings — and made clear that they saw virtually no chance that at least 17 Republicans would join with 50 Democrats to convict Trump and also bar him from ever running from office again.

In interviews with more than a dozen GOP senators, the consensus was clear: Most Republicans are likely to acquit Trump, and only a handful are truly at risk of flipping to convict the former President — unless more evidence emerges or the political dynamics within their party dramatically change. Yet Republicans are also signaling that as more time has passed since the riot, some of the emotions of the day have cooled and they’re ready to move on.

“The chances of getting a conviction are virtually nil,” said Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican.

“I don’t know what the vote will be but I think the chance of two-thirds is nil,” said Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican and member of his party’s leadership who called the Democratic push to begin the trial “vindictive.”

“From listening to the dynamic — and everything to this point — it’s going to be tough to get even a handful,” said Sen. Mike Braun, an Indiana Republican, referring to possible GOP defectors. “I think so many are getting confused by the fact that we’re doing this – and everybody has views that it’s kind of a constitutional concern.”

The GOP arguments are now coming into sharper focus, claiming the proceedings are unconstitutional to try a former President and contending that the trial is moving on too short of a timeframe to give due process to Trump, claims that Democrats resoundingly reject. But those arguments, Republicans believe, will allow them a way out of convicting Trump without endorsing his conduct in the run up to the deadly mob that ransacked the Capitol on January 6. And Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is likely to land in the same spot as much of his conference, GOP senators believe, although the Republican leader has said he would listen to the arguments first before deciding how to vote.

Politically, most Republicans are not eager to break ranks and draw the kind of attacks that came the way of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump last week for the second time in his presidency, this time on a charge of inciting an insurrection.

“Many view it as a game of shirts and skins,” said one GOP senator, referring to how many of his colleagues view the proceedings as a strictly partisan affair.

For the Democrats, the calculation is also tricky. If they seek a longer trial — even as long as the 21 days of Trump’s first impeachment trial in 2020 — with witnesses, they could satisfy some Republicans who are arguing that the trial must give adequate opportunity for Trump to make his case. Yet, doing so could eat away at the first full month of the Biden presidency, while a shorter trial would alienate some Republicans.

“I’m not for any witch hunts,” said Cornyn, who noted he’d be less likely to convict if it were a short trial with no witnesses. “This needs to be a fair and respectable process because whatever we do, it’s not just about President Trump. This is about setting a new precedent and as you know, once we do things around here and there is a precedent for it, then that’s the rule for the next time this happens.”

Among the most likely GOP defectors are Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Susan Collins of Maine, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania. But Republican leaders who monitor their conference closely don’t see much of a chance that the list will swell to 17 senators unless something dramatically changes or more is learned about Trump’s role in stoking the violent mob.
“There’s less than a handful of Republicans in play,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham, the South Carolina Republican who is lobbying his colleagues to stick with Trump or risk “destroying” their party.

And even some who had been viewed as possible swing votes are critical of Democrats for trying to start the trial immediately, rather than abiding by the timeline proposed by McConnell to push off the floor proceedings until later in February.

“It’s very problematic, I would say, for the folks who are bringing this right now from a timing standpoint,” said Senate Minority Whip John Thune, the No. 2 Republican, who has been critical of Trump’s conduct and also is up for reelection in 2022. “I think it’s going to be very important whether or not there’s due process.”

Added Murkowski: “I think what McConnell laid down was eminently reasonable, in terms of making sure that we got process. Got to have process and the process has to be fair.”

Collins, the Maine Republican who has been sharply critical of Trump’s conduct, said that she is consulting with “constitutional scholars” about the proceedings. Asked about the GOP senators’ assessment that Trump almost certainly won’t get convicted, she said: “That’s not an unreasonable conclusion, but I just don’t know.”

McConnell himself has privately viewed Trump’s handling of the riots with disdain and has told people they amounted to at least an impeachable offense, while even saying the mob was “provoked” by the former President. But McConnell has made clear to his colleagues that he is undecided — and several Republicans told CNN this week that he could be at risk of losing his perch atop the Senate GOP conference if he votes to convict Trump.

And in the last two days, McConnell has publicly made the case to give Trump’s team more time to prepare. With much of the GOP conference now lining up against conviction, Republicans speculate that the GOP leader will likely vote to acquit as well.

One of the key hurdles the House Democratic managers will have with Republicans is convincing them that a trial is constitutional, as a group of Senate Republicans have argued in recent days that a trial for an ex-president who is now a private citizen is unconstitutional. Such an argument could give Republicans a reason for voting to acquit Trump without addressing his conduct surrounding the insurrection at the Capitol earlier this month.

“I think it’s obvious that the post-presidential impeachment has never occurred in the history of the country for a reason, that it’s unconstitutional, that it sets a bad precedent for the presidency and it continues to divide the nation,” Graham said Friday.

It’s a debate that enters into unprecedented territory, as the Senate has never held an impeachment trial for a President who has left office because such a scenario never arose. But Democrats have pointed to legal scholars on both ends of the political spectrum who say a trial is constitutional. Legal analysts say there’s precedent for a Senate impeachment trial of a former official, as the Senate tried Secretary of War William Belknap in 1876 after he resigned just before the House voted to impeach him.

“It makes no sense whatsoever that a president — or any official — could commit a heinous crime against our country and then be permitted to resign so as to avoid accountability and a vote to disbar them from future office,” Schumer said Friday.

Republican defenders of Trump push back.

Sen. Josh Hawley, a Missouri Republican who has generated blowback for joining with House Republicans to try to overturn Pennsylvania’s election results, distanced himself from Trump’s remarks at the January 6 rally where he urged his supporters to go to the Capitol that day, calling them “inflammatory” and “irresponsible.”

But when asked how they should hold Trump accountable, Hawley said: “Breaking the Constitution and using an unconstitutional process is not the way to do it.”

CNN’s Ali Zaslav, Ali Main and Olanma Mang contributed to this report.

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Trump impeachment going to Senate Monday

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President Biden is putting into play his national COVID-19 strategy to ramp up vaccinations and testing.

USA TODAY

In the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol, President Joe Biden is directing the federal government to focus on domestic violent extremism, including having the National Security Council build out its capability to counter domestic threats.

Biden press secretary Jen Psaki announced a three-pronged effort aimed at confronting domestic violent extremism at a press briefing Friday. 

“The Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol and the tragic deaths and destruction that occurred underscored what we have long known,” Psaki said. “The rise of domestic violent extremism is a serious and growing national security threat. The Biden administration will confront this threat with the necessary resources and resolve.”

The NSA will undertake a policy review, she said, to determine how the government can share information more effectively to address threats, support efforts to prevent radicalization and disrupt violent networks. She said this will complement work already underway among agencies

“We need to understand better its current extent and where there might be gaps,” she said.

She said the administration has also tasked the Office of the Director of National Intelligence for a “comprehensive threat assessment” to help shape policies to address the rise of domestic violent extremism. The FBI and Department of Homeland Security will consult on that work.

In addition, Biden has asked all relevant federal departments and agencies to “enhance and accelerate” efforts to combat domestic violent extremism, Psaki said.

Psaki said the White House is committed to developing domestic violent extremism polices and strategies “based on facts, on objective and rigorous analysis and our respect for constitutionally protected free speech and activities.”

She did not elaborate on any potential policy proposals.

Pro-Trump rioters at the Capitol this month included organizers of Proud Boys, an extremist group with ties to white nationalism, as well as other far-right organizations. 

— Joey Garrison

No timeline for national vaccine information portal

The Biden administration doesn’t have a timeline for when the public might be able to access a national website or phone center to get a coronavirus vaccine, Press Secretary Jen Psaki said Friday.

But she noted that Jeff Zients, who helped get the Obamacare launch back on track in 2013, is coordinating Biden’s COVID-19 response. 

“So we’re in very good hands,” Psaki said, “and they’re certainly committed to getting more information out in a more accessible way.”

Ron Klain, Biden’s chief of staff, said on MSNBC Thursday that the administration will try to build a “national resource” for federal vaccination centers.

Asked about that commitment, Psaki said the administration is eager to provide more public assistance.

 “I know all members of my family are also asking the same question as I’m sure yours are,” she said. “The lack of information and the disinformation … has created a great deal of confusion.”

Nearly six in 10 older Americans don’t know when or where they can get vaccinated, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation report released Friday.

— Maureen Groppe and Savannah Behrmann

GOP Sen. Murkowski says she didn’t vote for Trump, won’t join Democratic Party

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski said she didn’t vote for Trump in the November election and instead wrote in another candidate. 

Murkowski wouldn’t say who she wrote in, only telling reporters with a laugh that her candidate “didn’t win.”

“I wrote someone in. I’ve kind of become fond of looking at individual candidates,” Murkowski said, adding she chose her own candidate because, “I don’t want to accept the lesser of two evils.”

The Alaska Republican, a key swing vote in the Senate, said despite her conflicts with the former president, which drew his wrath and even threats of a primary challenge, she would remain in the Republican Party.

“That’s a dream by some that that will not materialize,” Murkowski said of the notion of her joining the Democratic Party. “I can be very discouraged at times with things that go on in my own caucus, in my own party. I think each member feels that. But I have absolutely no desire to move over to the Democrat side of the aisle.”

She explained her thoughts on this after losing a primary challenge in 2010 and considerations to join the Libertarian Party. She later won her race in a remarkable write-in campaign. 

“I can’t be somebody that I’m not,” Murkowski said. “I said, ‘Thank you, but no, thank you.’ I don’t fly a flag of convenience. And it’s not who I am. It’s not who I am.”

— Christal Hayes

Senate confirms Lloyd Austin, making him the nation’s first Black defense secretary

The Senate on Friday confirmed Lloyd Austin as the nation’s first Black defense secretary, the second nominee of President Joe Biden to be confirmed by the chamber.

Austin is a retired four-star Army general who will be the first Black secretary of defense. He was the first Black general to command an Army division in combat and also the first to oversee an entire theater of operations as the commanding general of U.S. forces in Iraq.

Austin’s confirmation process wasn’t without bumps. Controversy flared over a law barring recently retired military officers from serving as the defense secretary, but top Democrats lined up behind Austin’s nomination, citing the need for Biden to have his national security team in place after the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. The law requires that troops be retired for seven years before taking the post.

The House passed a waiver from the law for Austin on Thursday afternoon, and the Senate followed suit shortly after. 

– Nicholas Wu and Christal Hayes

Schumer says impeachment article coming to Senate on Monday

The impeachment article charging former President Donald Trump with inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol will be sent to the Senate on Monday, triggering the impeachment trial process, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., announced on the Senate floor Friday morning.

He said he had been in touch with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on the timing of the article. The House impeached Trump for “incitement of insurrection” on Jan. 13. 

Schumer said it was still unclear how long the trial will last and when it will begin in earnest, issues he is still discussing with Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell.

“But make no mistake, a trial will be held in the United States Senate, and there will be a vote whether to convict the president,” Schumer said.

– Nicholas Wu and Christal Hayes

Senate leaders negotiate Trump impeachment trial timing

Senate leaders continued Friday to negotiate the timing of the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, who has hired a lead defense lawyer to represent him.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., proposed Thursday to start the trial in February, after preliminary statements are filed by House prosecutors and Trump’s defense team. He argued the slight delay would offer time for Trump’s legal team to familiarize themselves with the case.

“At this time of strong political passions, Senate Republicans believe it is absolutely imperative that we do not allow a half-baked process to short-circuit the due process that former President Trump deserves or damage the Senate or the presidency,” McConnell said in a statement.

Trump hired prominent South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers, who worked for the Justice Department during President George W. Bush’s administration, to represent him. A friend of Bowers, Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told his colleagues about the hiring during a conference call Thursday.

“Solid guy,” Graham said, adding that Bowers would act as the lead attorney on a Trump team that is still being put together.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s office said it received McConnell’s proposal, which aims to start the trial in the Senate chamber Feb. 13.

“We will review it and discuss it with him,” said Schumer spokesman Justin Goodman.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., said she would send the article of impeachment to the Senate “soon.” Schumer, D-N.Y., said there will be a trial, but the timing is uncertain.

The House impeached Trump Jan. 13, charging him with inciting the insurrection at the Capitol a week earlier. The Senate will decide whether to convict him.

But the case raises numerous legal challenges, including whether a former president can be tried after he leaves office. The Senate must also decide whether to call witnesses or hear other evidence.

– Bart Jansen

Biden to sign 2 more executive orders Friday, more Cabinet confirmations possible

WASHINGTON – President Joe Biden’s second day in office was focused heavily on COVID-19. 

Biden stressed science and unity in his first briefing on the COVID-19 pandemic Thursday, giving Americans the “brutal truth” about the challenges the nation faces before signing a series of executive orders aimed at combating the pandemic. 

Takeaways from Biden’s COVID-19 executive orders: Experts celebrate plan, warn ‘a lot of work’ is left

On his third day as president, Biden will launch another front in his battle against COVID-19 by taking steps to provide economic relief to Americans still reeling from the effects of the deadly pandemic.

Biden is set to sign two executive orders that will give low-income families easier access to federal nutrition and food assistance programs and start the process for requiring federal contractors to pay their workers a minimum wage of $15 per hour and give them emergency paid leave. 

Also on Thursday, a few of of Biden’s Cabinet picks cleared a few hurdles. 

The House removed a roadblock to the confirmation of Lloyd Austin, Biden’s nominee to be defense secretary, granting Austin a waiver from a law barring recently retired military officers from serving as the defense secretary. 

Additionally, Pete Buttigieg, Biden’s nominee to the lead the Department of Transportation, met a favorable reception and drew praise from both sides of the aisle Thursday during his confirmation hearing. 

More: Buttigieg gets favorable reception in confirmation hearing for transportation secretary role

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Schumer says House will deliver Trump impeachment article to Senate on Monday

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Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) displays a signed an article of impeachment against President Donald Trump at the U.S. Capitol on January 13, 2021 in Washington, DC.

Stefani Reynolds | Getty Images

The House will deliver the impeachment article against former President Donald Trump to the Senate on Monday, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Friday.

The action will start the process for the second trial the ex-president has faced for charges of high crimes and misdemeanors. While Trump has already left the White House, the Senate can vote to bar him from holding office again if it chooses to convict him.

The House earlier this month charged Trump with inciting an insurrection against the government by inflaming a mob that overran the Capitol on Jan. 6. The riot, which disrupted Congress’ count of President Joe Biden’s electoral win, left five dead, including a Capitol police officer.

The Senate will need 67 votes to convict Trump. If all 50 Democrats support conviction, they will need 17 Republicans to join them.

Speaking after Schumer, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., expressed concerns that Trump would not have enough time to mount a defense. He had asked the House to send the article on Thursday to ensure “a full and fair process.”

Trump has hired South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers to defend him during the trial. The nine impeachment managers who will make the House’s case are Democratic Reps. Jamie Raskin of Maryland, Diana DeGette of Colorado, David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Joaquin Castro of Texas, Eric Swalwell and Ted Lieu of California, Stacey Plaskett, the delegate for the U.S. Virgin Islands, Madeleine Dean of Pennsylvania and Joe Neguse of Colorado.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, who would not say Thursday when her chamber would transmit the article to the Senate, argued the managers would not need to prepare as much evidence for the second trial as they did for the first last year.

“This year, the whole world bore witness to the president’s incitement, to the execution of his call to action, and the violence that was used,” the California Democrat told reporters Thursday.

Schumer said he has spoken to McConnell about “the timing and duration of the trial,” but did not give any details about how long it will last. The Democratic leader aims to balance impeachment with confirmation of Biden’s Cabinet members and passage of a coronavirus relief bill.

“The Senate must and will do all three,” he said Friday.

The first trial Trump faced last year for charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress lasted about three weeks. The Republican-held Senate acquitted him.

Schumer downplayed GOP concerns that Democrats would rush through the trial after a rushed process in the House, which impeached Trump only a week after the insurrection.

“It will be a full trial. It will be a fair trial,” he said.

McConnell has not indicated whether he will vote to convict Trump. On Tuesday, he said the rioters “were provoked by the president and other powerful people.”

Republican Sens. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania both called on Trump to resign while he still held office. Neither has said how they plan to vote on conviction.

Murkowski said in a statement earlier this month that the House responded to the Capitol attack “swiftly, and I believe, appropriately, with impeachment.”

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LIVE UPDATES: Republicans propose delaying Trump’s impeachment to February

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell proposed delaying former President Trump’s impeachment trial until February so the former president’s new legal team will have time to prepare his defense.

The Democrat-led House rushed a vote last week to impeach Trump for “incitement of insurrection” after a violent mob stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6 and delayed the certification of President Biden’s electoral college win. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday she expects to transmit the article to the Senate “soon” to launch a Senate trial.

But McConnell told his GOP colleagues on a call Thursday that a two-week delay would allow Trump to ready his legal defense and ensure due process.

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Mitch McConnell proposes delaying Trump’s impeachment trial | Trump impeachment (2021)

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The Senate Republican leader, Mitch McConnell, is proposing to push back the start of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial by a week or more to give the former president time to review the case.

House Democrats who voted to impeach Trump last week for inciting the 6 January Capitol attack have signaled they want a quick trial as President Joe Biden begins his term, saying a full reckoning is necessary before the country – and the Congress – can move on.

But McConnell told his fellow GOP senators on a call Thursday that a short delay would give Trump time to prepare and stand up his legal team, ensuring due process.

The Indiana senator Mike Braun said after the call that the trial might not begin “until sometime mid-February”. He said that was “due to the fact that the process as it occurred in the House evolved so quickly, and that it is not in line with the time you need to prepare for a defense in a Senate trial”.

The timing will be set by the House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, who can trigger the start of the trial when she sends the House charges for “incitement of insurrection” to the Senate, and also by McConnell and the new Senate majority leader, Chuck Schumer, who are in negotiations over how to set up a 50-50 partisan divide in the Senate and the short-term agenda.

Schumer is in charge of the Senate, assuming the majority leader post after Democrats won two new Senate seats in Georgia and Vice-President Kamala Harris was sworn in on Wednesday. But with such a narrow divide, Republicans will have some say over the trial’s procedure.

Democrats are hoping to conduct the proceedings while also passing legislation that is a priority for Biden, including coronavirus relief, but they would need some cooperation from Senate Republicans to do that, as well.

Schumer told reporters on Thursday that he was still negotiating with McConnell on how to conduct the trial, “but make no mistake about it. There will be a trial, there will be a vote, up or down or whether to convict the president.”

Pelosi could send the article to the Senate as soon as Friday. Democrats say the proceedings should move quickly because they were all witnesses to the siege, many of them fleeing for safety as the rioters descended on the Capitol.

“It will be soon, I don’t think it will be long, but we must do it,” Pelosi said on Thursday. She said Trump did not deserve a “get out of jail card” for his historic second impeachment just because he has left office and Biden and others are calling for national unity.

‘The mob was fed lies’: McConnell blames Trump for Capitol attack – video

Without the White House counsel’s office to defend him – as it did in his first trial last year – Trump’s allies have been searching for lawyers to argue the former president’s case. Members of his past legal teams have indicated they do not plan to join the effort, but the South Carolina senator Lindsey Graham told GOP colleagues on Thursday that Trump was hiring the South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers, according to a person familiar with the call who was granted anonymity to discuss it. Bowers did not immediately respond to a message Thursday.

Prosecuting the House case will be Pelosi’s nine impeachment managers, who have been regularly meeting to discuss strategy. Pelosi said she would talk to them “in the next few days” about when the Senate might be ready for a trial, indicating the decision could stretch into next week.

Trump told thousands of supporters to “fight like hell” against the election results that Congress was certifying on 6 January just before an angry mob invaded the Capitol and interrupted the count. Five people, including a Capitol police officer, died in the mayhem, and the House impeached the outgoing president a week later, with 10 Republicans joining all Democrats in support.

Pelosi said it would be “harmful to unity” to forget that “people died here on January 6, the attempt to undermine our election, to undermine our democracy, to dishonor our Constitution”.

Following his first impeachment, Trump was acquitted by the Senate in February after his White House legal team, aided by his personal lawyers, aggressively fought the House charges that he had encouraged the president of Ukraine to investigate Biden in exchange for military aid. This time around, Pelosi noted, the House was not seeking to convict the president over private conversations but for a very public insurrection that they experienced themselves and that played out on live television.

“This year the whole world bore witness to the president’s incitement,” Pelosi said.

Dick Durbin of Illinois, the No 2 Senate Democrat, said it was still too early to know how long a trial would take, or if Democrats would want to call witnesses. But he said: “You don’t need to tell us what was going on with the mob scene – we were rushing down the staircase to escape.”

McConnell, who said this week that Trump had “provoked” his supporters before the riot, has not said how he will vote. He told his GOP colleagues that it would be a vote of conscience.

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McConnell wants to push Trump’s Senate impeachment trial to mid-February

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Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has proposed to Majority Leader Chuck Schumer that former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial should start in mid-February and laid out the preferred timing during a conference call with Republican colleagues on Thursday, according to multiple sources on the call.

Included in McConnell’s proposal is a deal to begin the Senate proceedings in February so that both sides can properly prepare for Trump’s second impeachment trial, according to multiple people on the call. Schumer could be open to this proposal, giving him more time to confirm President Joe Biden’s Cabinet nominees.

Sen. Mike Rounds who was on the call, said his understanding was that McConnell, R-Ky., briefed the conference before going to Schumer, D-N.Y.

“I think we know that we want to make sure that if the Democrats are going to do this impeachment, that the President has a right to due process. And in order to do that he has to prepare a case, they’ve got to set up the rules and so forth so I think it’d be very difficult to start before then,” Rounds, R-S.D., said.

Senator Mike Braun, R-Ind., also told NBC News that he thinks the trial could begin mid-February.

“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,” McConnell said in a statement on Thursday. “Given the unprecedented speed of the House’s process, our proposed timeline for the initial phases includes a modest and reasonable amount of additional time for both sides to assemble their arguments before the Senate would begin to hear them.”

“At this time of strong political passions, Senate Republicans believe it is absolutely imperative that we do not allow a half-baked process to short-circuit the due process that former President Trump deserves or damage the Senate or the presidency,” the statement said.

Both House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., and Schumer punted on the trial timing question when asked by reporters earlier on Thursday. Pelosi has yet to indicate when she would send the article of impeachment to the Senate, but says “soon.”

“We received Leader McConnell’s proposal that only deals with pre-trial motions late this afternoon. We will review it and discuss it with him,” said Schumer’s spokesman Justin Goodman.

When asked if the president would support moving the impeachment trial to February, White House Communications Director Kate Bedingfield reiterated what Biden has previously said, that he will leave it to Senate leadership to determine the mechanics and timing of the trial.

Bedingfield added that Biden wants the Senate to conduct the impeachment trial in a way that allows them to move forward with the Covid-19 relief legislation as quickly as possible.

Leigh Ann Caldwell

Leigh Ann Caldwell is an NBC News correspondent.

Julie Tsirkin

Julie Tsirkin is an associate producer for NBC News’ Capitol Hill team. 

Frank Thorp V

Frank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.

Kristen Welker

Kristen Welker is chief White House correspondent for NBC News.



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