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Given that many Republicans oppose impeachment or believe it isn’t even constitutional once Trump steps down, it might be difficult to get the cooperation Biden needs to run a trial alongside the Cabinet confirmations and start work on a new coronavirus stimulus bill. Biden and Democrats say it’s critical to strike a deal that does both, but a single senator can disrupt any multitasking effort.
All of this further complicates Biden’s cabinet and the first legislative priorities to be passed by the Senate during his critical early days in power.
“We are working with the Republicans to try to find a way forward,” said a spokesman for Senator Chuck Schumer, who will become majority leader later this month once two new Democratic senators from Georgia are sworn in. and that Kamala Harris will become vice president to break up. connections. Until then, however, Senator Mitch McConnell is the majority leader.
Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) Said Thursday on MSNBC that he spoke to Schumer that morning and that “there had been no exchange or conversation with Senator McConnell on the fixing of a precise time to begin the trial “.
And there are already fears that Biden is paralyzed in his debut. Senator Joe Manchin (DW.Va.), a centrist who supports Trump’s conviction, said that a trial “is preventing that first week or two which should basically be devoted to putting our government back in place.” He had hoped that the House could give the Senate at least a month “until our government is operational again.”
But House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is unlikely to wait until after Biden’s inauguration to trigger the start of the trial by formally forwarding the impeachment article to the Senate. Pelosi has been quiet about the precise moment, but his senior lieutenants have spent the last few days stressing the urgency of moving the process to the Senate as quickly as possible. Democrats wanted McConnell to bring back the Senate this week to start the trial in earnest, but McConnell rejected their request.
“Choosing between holding accountable those responsible for attacking our democracy in the US Capitol on the one hand and doing the work for the people around Covid Relief? It’s a false choice, ”said Senator Tina Smith (D-Minn.). “We have to do all of these things.”
Schumer and McConnell could also face a procedural mess even after the trial begins. Control of the Senate is expected to shift midway through the trial, once Biden and Harris are inaugurated and Georgia’s two new Democratic senators, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, are sworn in. Concurrent with setting up the trial, Schumer will have to work out the rules of the road for a 50-50 Senate with McConnell.
With the Senate divided and Chief Justice John Roberts presiding over the trial, partisan votes in the Senate could also lead to a stalemate. Last year, both sides sought to avoid putting Roberts in the position of having to break a tie.
Some Republican senators have even questioned the constitutional power of the Senate to bring a former president to justice.
“The founders designed the impeachment process as a way to impeach public officials – not an investigation against private citizens,” said Sen. Tom Cotton (R-Ark.). “The Constitution presupposes an office from which an indicted official can be removed.”
There are signs Biden is concerned about the upcoming trial and its impact on his first 100 days in office. Earlier this week, the president-elect said he hoped the Senate could “branch off” during the trial and “spend half a day on impeachment and half a day getting my people appointed and confirming it to the Senate. , as well as take action. [Covid-19 relief] package.”
And in a statement after the House impeachment vote on Wednesday night, Biden said he supported efforts to hold Trump accountable for the deadly Capitol riots, but said the Senate should not abandon its Cabinet confirmations and other legislative priorities like relief from Covid-19.
“This nation also remains in the grip of a deadly virus and a growing economy,” Biden said. “I hope the Senate leadership will find a way to fulfill their constitutional responsibilities for impeachment while also working on other pressing matters of this nation.
Biden can take office without any of his cabinet candidates being confirmed by the Senate, which typically takes into account the choices of a new president before the nomination. This makes the first days of his presidency all the more critical.
Biden specifically designated the positions of head of homeland security, state, defense, treasury and intelligence as his top priorities. Senate committees will meet in the coming days to hold confirmation hearings for these and other Cabinet positions.
Sen. Rob Portman (R-Ohio), the senior Republican on the Homeland Security panel, said Wednesday night that Biden “rightly said he wanted to set a new tone of greater unity early in his administration. We all need to worry about the polarization in our country and work to bring people together. “
But if Trump’s second trial goes like the first, it will be all the more difficult to turn the page for Biden. Republicans are already complaining that the House failed to give Trump “due process” – suggesting the Senate might be in for a slog.
“I’ve spent the last two days interviewing five Biden cabinet candidates and I want to tackle the serious task of legislating and forming a new administration that we can work with,” said Senator Kevin Cramer (RN.D. ) CNBC. “Don’t keep working against it, and that’s what I fear will happen if we continue these theatrical indictments.”
Ben Leonard, Marianne LeVine and Anthony Adragna contributed to this report.
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