When former President Trump is he attempted dismissal again, will be Senator Patrick Leahy, the pro tempore president of the Senate, who will preside, instead of Chief Justice John Roberts.
“The pro tempore president has historically presided over Senate impeachment trials against non-presidents,” Leahy confirmed in a statement Monday. “When he presides over an impeachment trial, the pro tempore president takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice in accordance with the Constitution and the laws. It is an oath that I take extraordinarily seriously.”
Roberts presided over Trump’s first impeachment process, as designated by the Constitution. But the Constitution is silent on the question of who presides over the trial in the Senate against a former president and a former president has never faced an indictment.
A Leahy aide said over the weekend that it was not the senator’s preference to preside over the trial. But the Vermont senator also said he considers his role as president pro tempore to be “one of the highest honors and most serious responsibilities of my career.”
“When you preside over the process of ousting former President Donald Trump, I will not relinquish my constitutional and sworn obligations to administer the trial fairly, in accordance with the Constitution and the laws,” Leahy said.
He noted in an interview with MSNBC on Sunday that he also had another job to do at the same time: as chairman of the credit committee, he will also be very involved. negotiations on President Biden’s COVID-19 economic relief package.
Senators will swear in the trial of former President Trump this week. He the indictment will be delivered in the Senate at 7 p.m., and then presented and read to the senators. House removal managers and Trump’s defense team will then have two weeks to prepare for the trial and the trial will begin the week of February 8th.
The House indicted Trump on Jan. 13 on charges of inciting an insurrection. A week earlier, Mr. Trump had told a crowd of supporters to “fight like hell” while Congress counted on the votes of the Electoral College, the last step in ending Mr. Biden’s victory. A crowd of his supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol, sending lawmakers to flee and delaying the counting of election votes for nearly six hours. Five people died as a result of the melee.