Impeachment trial debated in the Senate

WASHINGTON, D.C. (NBC) – Senate Democrats are now in the majority and they’re making it clear former President Donald Trump will face a Senate trial on the article of impeachment.

Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) dismissed arguments that a trial against a former president is unconstitutional.

“It defies precedent historic practice and basic common sense,” Schumer said. “It makes no sense whatsoever that a president or any official could commit a heinous crime against our country and then defeat Congress’s impeachment powers by simply resigning, so as to avoid accountability and a vote to disqualify them from future office.”

Schumer made clear it will go forward and, if convicted, Trump will face a vote on whether he should be barred from future office.

In the meantime, Republican leader Mitch McConnell declared his opposition to the Biden Administration’s $1.9 trillion COVID relief package, arguing it’s a “sprawling” bill that “misses the mark.”

“So to be clear, Madam President, nobody thinks our bipartisan work fighting this pandemic is completely finished nobody’s arguing that,” McConnell said. “And we all understand that overall national statistics do not explain away the terrible struggles facing many families.”

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