Trump's 2nd impeachment trial looks set to begin next week

Former President Donald Trump’s second impeachment trial appears on track to begin within days, with an article of impeachment against him headed to the Senate.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) announced Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) plans to transmit an article of impeachment charging Trump with incitement of insurrection to the Senate on Monday. Pelosi later confirmed this timing.

"Make no mistake: a trial will be held in the United States Senate, and there will be a vote on whether to convict," Schumer said.

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Join more than 350,000 subscribers and keep yourself informed with a selection of The Week’s most interesting, enlightening and entertaining stories - plus daily puzzles.

Sign up

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) has suggested the trial should be delayed until the middle of February, adding that Trump deserves a "full and fair process where the former president can mount a defense," NBC News reports. But Axios notes that "the Senate is required to begin the impeachment trial at 1 p.m. the day after the article is transmitted." The trial would, therefore, be set to begin on Tuesday, Jan. 26, though as Politico writes, this is assuming Schumer and McConnell don't "agree to a different timetable" before then.

The House impeached Trump again for "incitement of insurrection" after a mob of his supporters stormed the Capitol building in a deadly riot. His forthcoming second impeachment trial will be the first to ever take place against a former president.