Shortly before former President Donald Trump had completed his time in office, he was hit with yet another impeachment, the second one to occur during his tenure in the Oval Office. The incident in question, of course, that landed Trump in trouble in the first place was the attempted siege of the Capitol building by radical supporters of the disgraced politician attempting to stop the transfer of power. Despite President Joe Biden being sworn into office already, Trump's impeachment trial is still moving forward, with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi confirming Friday (January 22) that the impeachment articles passed by the House are set to move to Senate on Monday.
Democratic Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Pelosi both confirmed Friday that the articles would be sent out in three days. While Trump has already left office, impeaching the president would prevent him from holding office ever again if they convict him.
The Senate will need 67 votes total to convict Trump of the articles. If all 50 Democrats on the Senate support a guilty verdict, they would need at least 17 Republicans to agree with them. Republican Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell expressed concerns that the former President would not have had time to properly prepare his defense and asked for the articles to not be sent until the 28th to ensure “a full and fair process.”
In a statement made by Pelosi on Friday, she said Trump “will have had the same amount of time to prepare for trial” as the House impeachment managers who will make the case to the Senate.
Trump has hired South Carolina attorney Butch Bowers to defend him during the trial, while the House impeachment manager team consists of six representatives. We'll keep you updated as the pending impeachment develops.