WASHINGTON – Democratic Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the lawmaker approved to preside over President Trump’s impeachment trial, has been hospitalized, his spokesman said.
The 80-year-old pro tempore Senate president was taken to a local hospital and is under observation after complaining that he was not feeling well after overseeing the swearing-in of senators as jurors at the pre-trial trial on Tuesday.
“Tonight, Senator Leahy was in her Capitol office and was not feeling well,” Leahy’s spokesman David Carle said in a statement.
“The attending physician examined him at the Capitol. With great caution, the attending physician recommended that he be taken to a local hospital for observation, where he is now and where he is being evaluated, ”he said.
At times, Leahy seemed dull and out of breath during the procedure.
An upper-house advocate, Leahy has been a senator for 46 years and was sworn in as tempore president of the Senate for the third time last week.
The constitutional role makes Leahy responsible for presiding over the new Democratic-controlled Senate, including the next impeachment process.
In a statement, the Vermont lawmaker explained that he would oversee the trial instead of Supreme Court Judge John Roberts because Trump is no longer president.
It is unclear how long Leahy will be hospitalized, what her condition is and whether her ill health will delay the trial which is due to begin on February 8th.
Following Tuesday’s swearing-in, more than 45 Republican lawmakers voted to declare Trump’s impeachment trial unconstitutional, but said the dismissal article accusing the former president of inciting the Jan. 6 siege at the United States Capitol, he will be dead on arrival.