China News Service, January 23, reported that after the inauguration of the US President, the impeachment trial of the outgoing President Trump was put on the agenda.
The Democrat-led House of Representatives will submit an impeachment clause to the Senate on the 25th, and the two-party leaders of the Senate decided to start the trial the week of February 8.
President Biden also hinted at his willingness to postpone the trial by the Senate to buy more time for the new government to promote various processes.
Next, will Senate Republicans vote to convict Trump?
What are their trade-offs?
How will Trump respond?
Will it be banned from serving as president in the future?
On January 20, 2021 local time, Washington, USA, Trump boarded the "Marine Corps One" presidential helicopter.
Trump impeachment trial postponed to February
The impeachment trial of former US President Trump is underway. Senate Democratic leader Schumer said on the 22nd local time that the impeachment clause against Trump will be submitted to the Senate on the 25th.
He also stated that the Senate will start the trial the week of February 8.
Schumer said on the 22nd that the terms of impeachment against Trump will be submitted to the Senate on the 25th.
According to congressional rules, after the impeachment clause is submitted to the Senate, it will trigger the impeachment trial starting at 1 pm the next day, except on Sunday.
Senate Republican leader McConnell said earlier that he worried that Trump would not have enough time to prepare for his defense.
In a statement on the evening of the 21st, he proposed to postpone the Trump impeachment trial to February to allow the former president time to prepare the case against him.
McConnell’s statement stated that the proposal would provide a “comprehensive and fair procedure” considering that the case involves “serious factual, legal and constitutional issues”.
After deliberation by the leaders of the two parties in the Senate, the Senate finally decided to start the trial in the week of February 8.
Republicans won't convict Trump?
In the Senate trial, an absolute majority of all 100 senators is required to vote to pass the impeachment case.
Currently, with all senators voting, Democrats still need the support of 17 Republican lawmakers to convict Trump.
But Republican sources said that this number is expected to be only five to six in the end.
According to US media reports, a Republican senator said that there are several factors that are beneficial to Trump.
First of all, Trump's series of pardons and commutation orders issued before he left office did not include anyone accused of participating in congressional disturbances.
A Republican senator, who requested anonymity, said: "I think if he pardons the people who participated in this invasion of Congress, it means that,'These people are my people', the number (in support of the conviction) will increase."
Second, Republican senators worry that supporting the conviction will trigger a political backlash from fanatical supporters of the former president.
Some Republican senators warned that if many Republicans vote to convict Trump, it will be difficult to include Trump supporters in the Republican camp before the 2022 midterm elections and the 2024 presidential elections.
Although McConnell himself revealed to his aides that he believed Trump had committed an impeachable crime, the Republican leader has not yet indicated how he will vote.
Many people believe that McConnell will ultimately not support the conviction of Trump, because doing so may affect the election of some Republican senators during the 2022 midterm elections.
McConnell still hopes that the Republican Party can regain control of the Senate in 2022.
The third is that the impeachment trial is held one day later, the longer he will be the former president.
A Republican senator said: "In general, there is a really strong consensus among our members that he has stepped down, and impeachment is a remedy to remove someone from office, which raises a question of the Constitution. discussion."
The fourth factor is that people increasingly doubt whether Chief Justice Roberts will preside over Trump's second impeachment trial.
If Roberts did not preside over the trial, and was presided over by the vice president or the interim chairman of the Senate, Leahy, the Democrat, it would make the process look like a partisan struggle.
"This process will start to lose its legitimacy."
The picture shows US President Biden signing an executive order in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington.
Biden hinted that he was willing to postpone the trial?
On the other hand, President Biden's attitude towards Trump's impeachment trial has also attracted attention from outsiders.
US media reported that Biden hinted on the 22nd that he was not opposed to the Senate postponing Trump's impeachment trial on the grounds that it would give his own government more time to "start and operate."
In response to McConnell’s proposal to postpone Trump’s impeachment trial, Biden said on the 22nd that he has not seen the details of McConnell’s proposal, but “the more time we have to start operations and deal with these crises, The better."
Biden also thanked the Senate for quickly advancing the confirmation procedures for the Secretary of Defense and Finance nominated by him.
According to reports, since Trump was impeached for the second time, Biden and his senior aides have been reluctant to directly comment on this process, and have stated that they will obey the arrangements of the leaders of the Senate.
Trump selects defense counsel
How will Trump, the outgoing president, deal with the second impeachment trial to begin next month?
According to media reports, Trump has hired South Carolina lawyer Butch Bowers to defend him during the trial.
Bowers served as a lawyer representing former US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley and former South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford in their respective ethics hearings.
The House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump last week, accusing him of inciting thugs to rush into the Capitol on January 6 to reverse his defeat to Biden in the 2020 presidential election.
This incident resulted in 5 deaths, including a congressional policeman.
The Democrats have announced nine impeachment managers who participated in the impeachment trial.
Democrats have previously stated that they hope to advance the impeachment trial of Trump quickly when Biden begins his term.
They believe that a full liquidation must be carried out before moving on.
Although Trump has left the White House, if the Senate finally convicts him, he can vote to ban him from being president again.