Former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial will begin during the week of February 8th, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said on Friday (January 22), after the House of Representatives formally delivers the impeachment charge to the chamber on Monday (January 25).
Schumer emphasized the need to move quickly on confirmation of President Joe Biden’s Cabinet and other key administration officials. Schumer said House impeachment managers – serving as prosecutors in the Senate trial – and Trump’s defense team would have time to prepare between the time the single article of impeachment accusing Trump of inciting an insurrection is delivered on Monday and the start of the trial.
“During that period, the Senate will continue to do other business for the American people, such as Cabinet nominations and the COVID relief bill which would provide relief for millions of Americans who are suffering during this pandemic” Schumer said on the Senate floor.
Trump’s charge stems from his incendiary speech to supporters before they stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6.
“We all want to put this awful chapter in our nation’s history behind us. But healing and unity will only come if there is truth and accountability, and that is what this trial will provide,” Schumer said.
Schumer became the chamber’s leader this week after Democrats won two Georgia U.S. Senate runoff elections earlier in the month.
The trial timeline was a compromise after Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell had asked the Democratic-led House to delay sending the charges until next Thursday, and called on Schumer to postpone the trial until mid-February to give Trump more time to prepare a defense
Also on Friday, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee unanimously approved Janet Yellen’s nomination as the first woman Treasury secretary, indicating that she will easily win full Senate approval. But Republicans called for her to work with them in developing economic policies.
The full Senate will vote on Yellen’s nomination on Monday, Schumer said, which would allow her to get to work promptly on President Joe Biden’s economic agenda.
Her nomination was approved 26-0 in the evenly split committee, with concerns expressed by Republicans about Biden’s ambitious plans for massive coronavirus relief spending, infrastructure investment and tax hikes failing to sway them against the former Federal Reserve chair.
(Production: Ashraf Fahim)