Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) outlined three “essential items” that Senate Democrats are prioritizing moving forward, one of which is the second impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump.
“We have three essential items on our plate: Confirming President [Joe] Biden’s cabinet and key officials. Providing desperately needed COVID [Chinese coronavirus] relief. The second impeachment trial of Donald Trump,” Schumer outlined on Friday, promising that the Senate will “do all three”:
The New York lawmaker announced on Friday that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) will transmit the article of impeachment, which asserts that Trump incited the chaos that descended upon the U.S. Capitol as Congress convened to certify the electoral vote on January 6, on Monday, January 25.
“Make no mistake: There will be a full trial. There will be a fair trial,” he added:
Schumer delivered an unfortunate flub during a speech on the Senate floor Friday, stating Senate Democrats will ultimately have to decide whether “Donald John Trump incited the erection. He quickly corrected himself, as he meant to say “insurrection”:
Pelosi on Thursday argued that dropping the impeachment trial is not the way to unify the country, despite the fact that Trump is no longer President of the United States.
“The fact is the president of the United States committed an act of incitement of insurrection. I don’t think it’s very unifying to say, ‘Oh, let’s just forget it and move on,'” she stated.
However, Schumer revealed the Democrats’ main objective in proceeding during a floor speech last week, declaring that Trump should “not be eligible to run for office ever again.”
“Let me be clear: There will be an impeachment trial in the United States Senate. There will be a vote on convicting the president for high crimes and misdemeanors. If the president is convicted, there will be a vote on barring him again,” he stated.
That agenda item aside, lawmakers are also working on the process of confirming Biden’s nominees, confirming retired Gen. Lloyd Austin as Defense Secretary on Friday.
Democrats also hope to move swiftly on another coronavirus relief measure, as Schumer announced, but Democrat lawmakers do not expect to send a bill to Biden’s desk until march, according to reports.