Trump impeachment trial in Senate to begin on Feb. 8

VP Harris’ crucial vote as Senate chairman gives Democrats a majority

Washington, Jan. 23: The United States Senate would begin the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump on February 8, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said. “The January

6th insurrection at the Capitol, incited by Donald J. Trump was a day none of us will ever forget. We all want to put this awful chapter in our nation's history behind us. But healing and unity will only come if there is truth and accountability. And that is what this trial will provide,” Schumer said on the senate floor.

Both the Republican and the Democratic Party now have 50 seats each in the

100 member Senate. However, the crucial vote of Vice President Kamala Harris in her capacity as the chairman of the senate gives the Democrats a majority in the upper chambers of the Congress.

Giving details of the impeachment process, Schumer said the house managers will come to read the article of impeachment at 7 pm on Monday. Members will then be sworn in the next day.

After that, both the house managers and the defense will have a period of time to draft their legal briefs, just as they did in previous trials, he said.

“During that period, the senate will continue to do other business for the American people, such as cabinet nominations and the Covid-relief bill, which would provide relief for millions of Americans who are suffering during this pandemic. Then, once the briefs are drafted, presentations by the parties will commence in the week of February 8th,” Schumer said.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that the impeachment began with an unprecedentedly fast and minimal process in the house.

The sequel cannot be an insufficient senate process that denies former president Trump his due process or damages the senate or the presidency itself, he said.

“Senate Republicans strongly believe we need a full and fair process where the former president can mount a defence and the senate can properly consider the factual, legal, and constitutional questions at stake,” he said.

The Republican leader suggested that the impeachment trial begin on February 11. “That timeline would have provided the Senate some more floor time before we step fully into the unknown of a trial,” he said.

The ruling Democrats did not agree to his timeline.

— AFP Work is done on a new border wall being constructed on Friday in Jacumba, California. President Joe Biden has unveiled an immigration reform proposal offering an eight-year path to citizenship for some 11 million immigrants in the US illegally as well as green cards to upwards of a million DACA recipients and temporary protected status to farmworkers already in the United States.