Washington: The US Senate is likely to begin the impeachment trial against President Donald Trump on January 21 after the House of Representatives last month impeached him for pressuring Ukraine to investigate a political rival, a top Republican Senator has said. The 435-member House of Representatives, where Democrats enjoy a majority, last month charged Trump with "high crimes and misdemeanours" and impeached in vote that was based on bitter political divide. Now, the 100-member Senate, where the Republicans are in majority, needs to put Trump on trial before he can be removed from the White House.
After holding it on for weeks, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is expected to send its impeachment to the Senate sometime this week and that could be as early as Tuesday. The impeachment in the Senate is unlikely to pass through given that GOP has majority in the 100-member Senate.
Top Republican Senator John Cornyn, who is also Co-Chair of the Senate India Caucus, on Monday told reporters that the Senate is likely to start the impeachment trial next Tuesday, January 21.
"Tuesday (January 21) is what it's feeling like," he said.
"We'd actually be glued to our chair starting Tuesday, I think," he said in response to a question.
According to Cornyn, after House sends its articles of impeachment, the Senate will likely take a few days to deal with logistics of the trial.
Prominent among these include Chief Justice John Roberts and all Senators and sending summons to Trump's team. The Senate will also pass a resolution establishing the trial rules.
The New York Times reported that in the coming days, Pelosi is expected to choose half-a-dozen or so managers to argue on the Senate floor for Trump's removal from office.
"Those managers, who will be selected at least partly from the House Judiciary and Intelligence committees, form just one element of a trial full of complicated procedures," the report said.
Cornyn on the Senate floor alleged that Pelosi delaying the impeachment is hurting the Democratic presidential candidates.
