The Senate will take no action on the House Democrats’ attempt to prosecute President Trump again after he is no longer in office, and next week’s possible vote on the issue before it even begins.
According to a timeline issued to Senate colleagues on Friday, the leader of the majority, Mitch McConnell, said that any House decision on the matter could only be transferred to the upper chamber on January 19, based on the current calendar of the body.
House executives could present their case – which Trump would accuse him of inciting an uprising at the Capitol on Wednesday – to the Senate on the same day, McConnell’s memo noted.
But according to the existing indictment rules, debate and voting could only begin at 13:00 the next day, which made one hour the earliest possible moment for an indictment. after Elected President Joe Biden will be sworn in at 12 noon on January 20.
“The Senate hearing would therefore begin after President Trump’s term expires,” McConnell wrote, according to the Washington Post.
With the 50-50 Senate still in Republican hands until January 20, when Kamala Harris becomes vice president and the Democrats give the majority, it will take a unanimous vote from all 100 senators to dominate McConnell’s calendar – a far cry. possibility.
A post-term indictment for a former president would be a historic first, as well as a second indictment.