Here's the schedule for Trump's Senate impeachment trial and how to watch it
- The Senate will kick off Trump's second impeachment trial on Tuesday.
- Proceedings will begin with a debate over the constitutionality of holding an impeachment trial.
- Oral arguments start Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET.
Former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial in the Senate will begin on Tuesday afternoon.
The House of Representatives impeached Trump last month for "incitement of insurrection" related to the January 6 Capitol riot that resulted in five deaths and multiple injuries. Trump is accused of urging his supporters to march to the US Capitol, where they proceeded to lay siege to the building and tried to hunt down lawmakers in an effort to block Congress from certifying President Joe Biden's 2020 election victory.
The House transmitted the single article of impeachment against Trump to the Senate late last month. Here's what happens next:
- On Tuesday, the Senate will debate the constitutionality of holding an impeachment trial for Trump, given that he is no longer in office.
- Oral arguments kick off Wednesday at 12 p.m. ET. Each side will get 16 hours to make its presentation.
- There will be a debate and a vote on whether to call witnesses, at the request of the House managers.
- Initially, one of Trump's attorneys, David Schoen, requested the Sabbath (Friday at sundown until Saturday at sundown). The Senate agreed and said the trial would not take place after Friday at 5 p.m. or on Saturday, and would resume the afternoon of Sunday, February 14.
- Schoen later withdrew his request, saying he would not participate during the Sabbath, but that the trial should continue.
- As of Tuesday morning, it's unclear if the trial will continue on Friday night and Saturday due to the reversal.
Trump's impeachment trial will be broadcast live on the major cable news networks and C-SPAN. It will also be livestreamed on YouTube. You can watch below:
The Constitution stipulates that the chief justice of the Supreme Court presides over the Senate trial for a president, but it does not say who would oversee one for a former president. Vermont Sen. Patrick Leahy, who is the chamber's president pro tempore, will preside over Trump's impeachment trial.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced that nine Democratic impeachment managers will prosecute the case against Trump in the Senate: Rep. Jamie Raskin will be the lead manager, flanked by Reps. Diana DeGette, David Cicilline, Joaquin Castro, Eric Swalwell, Ted Lieu, Stacey Plaskett, Madeleine Dean, and Joe Neguse.
Trump is the only US president to have been impeached twice, and his second impeachment was the most bipartisan in US history, with 10 Republicans siding with Democrats.
In order to remove Trump from office and bar him from ever running for public office again, two-thirds of the Senate must vote to convict him following an impeachment trial, meaning that at least 17 Republicans would have to break ranks and vote with Democrats for a conviction. That's highly unlikely given that all but five Senate Republicans voted last month to declare Trump's trial itself unconstitutional.