Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., On Friday sent a letter to Republican Party senators sharing a summary of how the upper house could legally “dispose of any impeachment articles” against President Trump before January 20.
The letter was sent after House Democrats drafted new articles of impeachment against the president on Friday after a deadly Capitol riot. A crowd of Trump supporters stormed the building on Wednesday in hopes of preventing Congress from certifying President-elect Joe Biden’s victory.
WHITE HOUSE SAYS IMPEACHMENTO WOULD DIVIDE THE COUNTRY
“The Senate is currently in recess and holding pro forma sessions every three days until January 19th. According to the unanimously approved order establishing the recess and these pro forma sessions, the Senate cannot conduct any business until January 19, ”wrote McConnell.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) leaves the Senate House after opening the Senate floor at the United States Capitol on January 1, 2021 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Liz Lynch / Getty Images)
He added that the Senate will hold two more pro forma sessions on Tuesday, January 12, and on Friday, January 15.
“Without unanimous consent, the Senate cannot conduct any business of any kind during pro forma sessions, including starting to act on articles received from the House’s impeachment,” McConnell wrote.
If the House votes to continue with impeachment articles against the President before January 19 – the day before Biden’s inauguration – the Senate will receive a message indicating that the House’s impeachment while the Senate is in recess.
TRUMP SAYS IT ‘WILL NOT’ GO TO THE OPENING OF BIDEN
All 100 senators would have to agree to conduct “any kind of business” during the two pro forma sessions on 12 and 15 January to begin evaluating impeachment articles before the next regular session on 19 January, the letter states.
“Assuming that such unanimous consent is not given, the following would happen under the Senate’s Impeachment Rules when the Senate resumes its regular session on January 19,” McConnell wrote.
GOP SEN. BEN SASSE SAYS THERE IS ‘BREAK’ IN THE TRUMP SOUL, REFUSES TO REJECT IMPEACHMENT
McConnell then presented possible scenarios for January 19, 20 and 21, essentially saying that, unless court president John Roberts presided over an impeachment trial from January 19, and unless House administrators displayed articles on the On the same day that the Senate was informed of the impeachment on January 19, the Senate’s trial would likely “begin after President Trump’s term ends.”
Senator Ted Cruz, R-Texas, arrives as a joint session of the House and Senate meeting to confirm the Electoral College votes cast in the November election at the Washington Capitol on Wednesday, January 6, 2021. ( Kevin Dietsch / Pool via AP)
Once the trial has started, the Senate “must continue in session day after day (except Sundays) … until the final judgment is rendered,” “wrote the senator.
No incumbent president has been impeached twice.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPLICATION
Representatives David Cicilline of Rhode Island, Jamie Raskin of Maryland and Ted Lieu of California were leading an impeachment resolution aimed at Trump’s alleged efforts to incite the riot, Fox News confirmed. The riot was a major security breach that forced lawmakers to evacuate to safe locations.
Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., Was also circulating impeachment articles.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi discussed the impeachment efforts on Friday afternoon in an hour-long call to the Democratic bench, calling the conversation “sad, moving and patriotic”.
PELOSI SAYS HE SPOKE TO GEN. MILLEY ON PROTECTING TRUMP NUCLEAR CODES
Pelosi and Senate minority leader Chuck Schumer of New York pushed for Trump’s immediate removal from office through the 25th Amendment, arguing that it was too risky to keep Trump in power until January 20, when Biden is sworn in.
Neither Pelosi’s office nor Schumer’s office responded immediately to requests for comment.
After two party victories in Georgia, Schumer will become the majority leader later this month.
Fox News’s Marisa Schultz contributed to this report.