Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) circulated procedures this week for another impeachment trial against President Trump, but, per the timeline, proceedings would not occur until after Trump is already out of office.
The memo, detailed by the Washington Post, provides the timeline for another impeachment trial, which has January 19 as the earliest possible date the Senate could begin the process — one day before President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration — as the upper chamber will not “reconvene for substantive business” until that day:
Although the Senate will hold two pro forma sessions next week, on Jan. 12 and Jan. 15, it is barred from conducting any kind of business during those days — including “beginning to act on received articles of impeachment from the House” — without agreement from all 100 senators. With a cadre of Trump-allied senators in the Republican conference, that unanimous consent is highly unlikely.
McConnell’s memo emphasized that point, noting it would “require the consent of all 100 Senators to conduct any business of any kind during the scheduled pro forma sessions prior to January 19, and therefore the consent of all 100 Senators to begin acting on any articles of impeachment during those sessions” – READ MORE
