If the House impeaches President Donald Trump, a Senate trial on the charge seems all but certain to have to wait until President-elect Joe Biden is inaugurated.
That’s the word from a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. The spokesman says aides to the Kentucky Republican have told Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's staff that McConnell won’t agree to invoke powers calling senators into emergency session.
That means the Senate almost certainly won’t meet again until Jan. 19, the day before Biden’s inauguration.
According to The Hill, McConnell said in a memo to colleagues last week that the Senate would not be able to handle any business on the floor before that date unless all 100 senators agreed to reconvene sooner.
As a result, the memo continued, an impeachment trial could not beging until 1 p.m. on Jan. 20, after Biden's swearing in.
The House is set to vote later Wednesday on impeaching Trump on a single article accusing him of inciting a violent mob of supporters to attack the U.S. Capitol last week.
