Senate minority leader Charles Schumer, D-NY, (R) stands alongside Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., (L) while participating in the Electoral College’s vote certification for President-elect Joe Biden, during a joint session of Congress at the US Capitol in Washington, DC, January 6, 2021.
Kevin Dietsch | Pool | AFP | Getty Images
Preparing for the Senate’s first uniform division in 20 years and the only impeachment trial for a former president in US history, Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell plan to discuss ground rules for the House on Tuesday -market.
Schumer’s Democrats will take control of a 50-50 Senate on Wednesday. Senator Kamala Harris will become vice president and then have a tiebreak vote as soon as the House nominates three new Democratic senators. Harris’ successor, Alex Padilla, of California, and elected senators Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff of Georgia “are likely” to take an oath on Wednesday, Schumer told reporters on Tuesday.
Schumer, DN.Y. and McConnell, R-Ky., have to decide how to handle an unprecedented few weeks for the Senate. The chamber must set rules for an impeachment trial of outgoing President Donald Trump, which Democrats aim to balance with confirmation from President-elect Joe Biden’s office and the approval of a coronavirus relief bill.
Schumer told reporters he will speak with McConnell on Tuesday about the thorny issues facing the Senate.
“I’m talking to McConnell later, we’ll see what happens. … We have three things we have to do, do it quickly, impeachment, appointments, Covid. We have to move them all fast,” he said when asked when the trial of Trump would start, according to NBC News.
Speaking at the Senate floor on Tuesday, he described them as “three essential items” that the Senate is expected to meet in the coming weeks. McConnell also spoke during the Senate session on Tuesday and said Trump triggered the Capitol’s deadly riot. He did not address the logistics of the trial and the confirmation votes.
The Senate will have to agree on how to structure a 50-50 division. Democrats will lead committees and Schumer will decide which projects will be voted on in plenary. The party can confirm the nominees for the Executive with a simple majority and will need 60 votes to pass most of the legislation.
In the last Senate divided equally in 2001, each party had the same number of seats on the committees. If a committee reached a dead end on a measure, the majority leader had the power to take it to a full Senate vote.
It is not clear to what extent the 2001 rules will guide the power structure in the next two years.
The Senate cannot start Trump’s trial until he receives the impeachment article from the House, which accuses the president of inciting a Capitol insurrection on January 6. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Did not say when she would send the measure to the Senate.
Trump’s first impeachment trial last year lasted about three weeks. If the 67 necessary senators vote to condemn the president, it will be too late to remove him from the White House. However, the chamber could hold a separate vote to prevent Trump from taking office again.
Schumer and McConnell are ready to discuss how to structure the trial. Biden said he hopes the Senate will be able to dedicate part of its day to impeachment and part to confirmation from his cabinet.
Senate committees began holding hearings for nominees for the president-elect on Tuesday. They include the appointed Treasury secretary, Janet Yellen, the appointed secretary of state, Antony Blinken, and the designated defense secretary, Lloyd Austin. Panels can vote to send their nominations to the Senate floor in the next few days.
Schumer noted that “it will take the cooperation of our Republican colleagues to quickly confirm” national security officials in the Biden government.
Along with the trial and confirmations, the Senate is also likely to consider pandemic aid in the coming weeks. Biden, Schumer and Pelosi said another aid package will be their top legislative priority.
The president-elect last week released a $ 1.9 trillion aid plan, which he hopes will guide a bill that Democrats are trying to pass in Congress. Biden may face difficulties in getting Republican support for more federal spending after lawmakers approved a $ 900 billion aid package last month.
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