Biden made the comment during a brief individual interview with CNN in the corridors of the West Wing. He acknowledged the effect it could have on his legislative agenda and Cabinet nominees, but said there would be “a worse effect if it didn’t happen.”
Biden told CNN that he believes the outcome would be different if Trump had six months left in his term, but said he did not think 17 Republican senators would vote to condemn Trump.
“The Senate has changed since I was there, but it hasn’t changed much,” said Biden.
The House’s impeachment managers formally triggered the start of Trump’s second impeachment trial on Monday night after they crossed the Capitol and began reading in the Senate floor the charge against Trump, the first president in history to face two charges. .
The contours of Trump’s Senate trial are starting to take shape as the ceremonial elements begin, with the oldest Democrat in the Senate expected to preside over the trial and Democrats still weighing whether to chase witnesses during procedures that may occupy a part of February.
Supreme Court President John Roberts will not preside as he did in Trump’s first impeachment trial, according to two sources familiar with the matter. Instead, Senator Patrick Leahy, the Senate’s pro tempore president, is due to chair, the sources said. The constitution says that the president of the court presides when the person to be tried is the current president of the United States, but senators preside in other cases, a source said.
While a president’s fourth impeachment trial in the Senate is underway in U.S. history, there are still two big questions outstanding about the Democrats’ impeachment case: whether they will seek witnesses and how long the trial will take. The answers to both are not yet known, according to several sources familiar with the matter.
This story is emerging and will be updated.