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Should it be rushed, rejected, or made to last? While Nancy Pelosi, Speaker of the House of Representatives, is about to send the indictment to the Senate, the start of the impeachment process for Donald Trump is set: it will be on February 8, writes the Swiss newspaper Le Temps, quoted by Rador.
For Democrats, the case is a bloody problem. They face a dilemma: how to move forward without disrupting the start of Joe Biden’s term, without interrupting his schedule, as the new president signs dizzying decrees and memoranda and wants his 1,900 re-launch plan to be quickly validated. cabinet appointments?
Intense talks between Nancy Pelosi and Chuck Schumer, the Democratic Majority Leader in the Senate, took place before stopping on February 8. As for Mitch McConnell, the head of the Republican minority in the Senate, he even wants the process to start later, “in mid-February.”
The votes of 17 Republicans
Brief summary of the facts. After the attack on the Capitol on January 6, House Democrats began indictments against Donald Trump for “inciting insurrection.” This indictment was voted on on January 13 by all Democrats and 10 Republicans. There was no doubt: the House is in the hands of the Democrats and the decision had to be taken by simple majority. In the Senate, by contrast, it will take a decision made with two-thirds of the votes and therefore with the help of 17 Republicans for Donald Trump to be found guilty. Which seems totally impossible.
The word “firing” no longer makes sense, given that Donald Trump is no longer president as of January 20 at noon. So what is this process like? The point is this: If Donald Trump is found guilty, senators can vote, by a simple majority, an ineligibility clause that would prevent him from running for a new presidential term in 2024.
It’s just that some Democrats are uncomfortable and would have preferred that the process not begin until after Biden’s 100 days, so that his first steps as president were not overshadowed by the procedure. And that the Senate is not forced to postpone certain important decisions or confirmation of appointments until later. Will two weeks be enough between reading the articles of impeachment and the start of the process to resolve priority cases? His eyes turn to Mitch McConnell.
Eventually, he, a skilled strategist, will be able to decide the pace of the process and, if necessary, put pressure on the Democrats by threatening to delay the case. His position remains ambiguous and difficult to decipher. A hardline Republican, he recently left Donald Trump. He did not rule out that he could vote for his dismissal. But at the same time, he wanted to start the process later, to allow Trump’s legal team to prepare.
“Complete and fair”
“The impeachment of the House has been faster and more minimalist than ever, the next step may not be an insufficient process in the Senate,” he said Friday. A caveat to make it clear that the process is likely to be long and complicated? A way to guarantee peace of mind before actually daring to judge Trump? “Republicans in the Senate strongly believe that we need a full and fair trial in which the former president can organize his defense and in which the Senate can properly examine the factual, legal and constitutional data at stake,” he said. The first removal proceedings, which ended in March 2020 with the acquittal of Trump, lasted three weeks.
Negotiations, pressures, contradictory statements: the road is still long until February 8. Some Republicans are trying to end the lawsuit, emphasizing that such a procedure is not really compatible with the image of the “unifying president” that Joe Biden wants to adopt. Meanwhile, the former president spends his days playing golf at his private club in Mar-a-Lago, Florida. But the new information highlights his efforts to question the results of the presidential elections. According to the media, he intended to replace the Minister of Justice with a lawyer willing to help force the Georgian authorities to reverse the election results. Trump would have resigned from the plan just because many top officials threatened to resign, writes the New York Times.
