As the Senate prepares to try former President Donald Trump and potentially bar him from again holding office, some Republican lawmakers criticized the idea of trying an out-of-office president while Democrats worried about distracting from President Biden’s agenda.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said the sole article of impeachment for incitement to insurrection against former President Donald Trump will be delivered to the Senate on Monday and a trial against the Republican will begin the week of Feb. 8.
The outgoing majority leader has spent the past several years cautiously avoiding confrontations with Trump.
Democrats excoriated majority Republicans and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Tuesday, but the road ahead remains uncertain for more in direct disbursements from the government.
Lawmakers from both parties insist they will not leave Washington for the holidays until they get a deal that wraps together an aid package and a broader spending deal.
As majority leader. McConnell has overseen a vast remaking of the federal judiciary.
McConnell needs at least 51 of the 53 Senate Republicans to support his rules if he wants them to pass.
The decision to move ahead with the rules puts new pressure on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., to release the House-passed articles of impeachment so that a trial may begin.
