A Senate trial on whether to convict President Trump on a House impeachment article would take weeks and cannot be completed before the end of his term on Jan. 20, Majority Leader Mitch McConnell announced Wednesday.
McConnell, a Kentucky Republican who said he might even vote to convict Trump on the House charge of inciting insurrection, said there simply isn’t enough time to hold a trial and Senate vote in the next seven days.
“Given the rules, procedures, and Senate precedents that govern presidential impeachment trials, there is simply no chance that a fair or serious trial could conclude before President-elect Biden is sworn in next week,” McConnell said.
McConnell has been at the center of speculation about the fate of the House impeachment article Republican and Democratic House lawmakers passed Wednesday afternoon. The Senate is out of session until Tuesday, but Democrats were angling to find a way to reconvene by using an emergency procedure to overrule a requirement that all 99 sitting Senators agree. McConnell rejected such a move.
In his statement issued post-impeachment, McConnell pointed out the only three impeachment trials in the Senate took “83 days, 37 days, and 21 days respectively.”
Not only would it take time for Democrats to present their case to the Senate, Trump would have time to offer a defense of the charge, which could take days.
“In light of this reality, I believe it will best serve our nation if Congress and the executive branch spend the next seven days completely focused on facilitating a safe inauguration and an orderly transfer of power to the incoming Biden Administration,” McConnell said. “I am grateful to the offices and institutions within the Capitol that are working around the clock, alongside federal and local law enforcement, to prepare for a safe and successful inauguration at the Capitol next Wednesday.”
McConnell will surrender the gavel on Jan. 20, when the tiebreaking vote from Vice President-elect Kamala Harris gives the Democrats a one-vote majority.
Any trial on the impeachment article will be up to incoming Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, a New York Democrat, and not the GOP.
