by Nomad
The Senate convenes to begin weighing whether the former president should be convicted on a charge he incited the pro-Trump mob that stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
Unlike his last impeachment trial before the Senate in 2020, when he faced charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, this trial comes weeks after the end of his term, another first. Most Senate Republicans voted not to proceed with the trial because they view it as unconstitutional to try Trump once no longer in office, but that motion failed in a 55-45 vote. Democrats have a razor-thin majority in the Senate, giving them the power to push forward with the trial and on their terms, but they will need to win over some Republicans in order to convict Trump, which requires a two-thirds majority vote.
Here's the impeachment trial schedule:
Tuesday, Feb. 9: Senate vote on constitutionality. First, the Senate will vote on whether they have the jurisdiction to actually hold a former president's trial. This will happen after four hours of argument on the Senate floor, where each senator can state their reasoning.Wednesday/ Thursday, Feb. 10 and 11th: Prosecution opening arguments begin. Impeachment managers from the House of Representatives will each make their case against Trump. These cases can take no longer than 16 hours of argument total, which is likely to be spread out over two days.Friday, Feb. 12, potentially Sunday: Defensive opening arguments begin. This is where Trump's legal team can state their ground, using the same amount of time as the prosecution to make their opening arguments. If the arguments are still going after sundown on Friday, the trial will resumeSunday (Saturday is off-limits to honor the Sabbath.)Sunday/ Monday, February 15: Senators ask their own questions. These questions aren't limited to one side or the other -- they can ask them to the House impeachment managers' side, or to Trump's legal team. It's an up to four-hour chance for Senators to get more information and clear up any questions of their own that they might not have been able to ask.Week of February 15: Debating over witnesses. The House impeachment managers can call witnesses, which depending on how many and if they decide to, can slow down the process. The Senate would need to approve and depose witnesses before they can actually testify.If no witnesses called, a potential conclusion next week: The last step to the process would be for the Senate to move to their final vote.