Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer announced that Nancy Pelosi plans to send the impeachment article against former President Trump to the Senate on Monday making the way for a trial. Many Republicans have voiced concerns over the constitutionality of impeaching a president after he has left office. However, Schumer was adamant there will be a full trial into Trump’s role in inciting the Capitol riot on Jan. 6th while Congress held a Joint Session to confirm or oppose state’s electoral votes for Joe Biden.
“Make no mistake: There will be a full trial. There will be a fair trial,” Sen. Schumer wrote on Twitter.
I have spoken to @SpeakerPelosi. The articles of impeachment will be delivered to the Senate on Monday.
Make no mistake: There will be a full trial. There will be a fair trial.
— Chuck Schumer (@SenSchumer) January 22, 2021
Nancy Pelosi confirmed the plan in a separate statement.
Fox News reports:
“We are respectful of the Senate’s constitutional power over the trial and always attentive to the fairness of the process, noting that the former president will have had the same amount of time to prepare for trial as our Managers,” Pelosi said. “Our Managers are ready to begin to make their case to 100 Senate jurors through the trial process.”
Schumer has been discussing how to organize the Senate and special rules for the upcoming impeachment trial with Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
No agreement has been reached on either front. If one is not on impeachment rules before Monday, then the standing Senate impeachment rules will go into effect, forcing the Senate to convene every day at 1 p.m., excluding Sundays, to consider the impeachment “until final judgment shall be rendered.”
McConnell suggested a set of pre-trial procedures on Thursday that would delay the event by a few weeks, but the decision by Pelosi, D-Calif., instead sends the Senate potentially careening on a collision course with a full trial next week.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell got harsh blowback from conservatives after making remarks which placed blame on Trump for inciting the violence on the Capitol. However, the senior Republican has also been one of the leading voices in questioning the constitutionality behind holding a second impeachment now that Trump is a private civilian.
