Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has sent a memo to Republican senators outlining the date for a potential Senate trial for President Trump should the House impeach him for a second time, The Washington Post reported Friday.
According to The Post, the memo notes that the Senate “will not reconvene for substantive business until Jan. 19,” which means impeachment proceedings that would all but certainly occur after he leaves the White House.
Because of the rules of the Senate, the earliest possible date that impeachment trial proceedings can begin is the day before President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated.
As per McConnell’s memo:
●On Jan. 19, the Senate would receive a message from the House that it has appointed impeachment managers, and that the Senate would be ready to receive it.
●On Jan. 19 or 20, the House impeachment managers would exhibit the articles.
●On Jan. 20 or 21, the Senate would proceed to consideration of the impeachment articles at 1 p.m., and officially begin the trial.
Although the Senate will hold two pro forma sessions next week, on Jan. 12 and Jan. 15, Congress 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,” The Post noted.
