According to McConnell’s office, Chuck Schumer, the Democratic minority leader of the Senate, made this clear on Wednesday, according to Republican officials. According to a person who saw it, the majority leader also sent a letter to the Republican senators saying that the chamber would only return on January 19th.
The House on Wednesday voted to accuse Trump of his role in inciting the riots at the U.S. Capitol last week, in a swift and dual verdict that makes Trump the first president in U.S. history to be charged twice.
In the note to his Republican colleagues Wednesday afternoon about accusation, he writes that ‘although the press was full of speculation, I have not yet made a final decision on how I am going to vote and I intend to listen to the legal arguments when presented. be to the Senate. ‘
But sources say McConnell is furious about Trump’s incitement to violence in the U.S. Capitol last week, and he also blames Trump for the party’s failure to win the two Senate Georgia seats earlier this month, to incur losses it would send him and Republicans into the Senate minority for the next two years.
In a memorandum a few days ago to Republican senators, McConnell suggested that the trial would not begin before Biden became president, saying all 100 senators would have to agree to change the Senate’s schedule. He indicated that the Senate could take the earliest articles of accusation against Trump, probably after his term.
“The trial of the Senate will therefore begin after President Trump’s term has expired,” the memo reads.
But since then, Schumer has called on McConnell to call in the emergency authority created in 2004 to bring the Senate back together if the two leaders agree to bring the chamber back.
Democrats are calling on McConnell to act immediately.
The president’s second indictment comes after he repeatedly made false allegations that the election was stolen from him and toppled supporters who looted the Capitol.
This story was updated on Wednesday with additional developments.