In a turn of events, Supreme Court Justice John Roberts will not preside over former President Donald J. Trump’s impeachment trial as originally believed.
Most Senior member of the Senate Democratic Conference, Senate President Pro Temopre, Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) will preside over the trial after voting in February to convict President Trump on two articles of impeachment.
Sen. Leahy will preside over former President Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate.
"It is going to look and feel entirely differently," @RickKlein reports on the upcoming trial. https://t.co/tHsW1DeSBc pic.twitter.com/fQdR07eiuk
— This Week (@ThisWeekABC) January 25, 2021
A spokesman for Leahy said Senate Majority Leader Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.) and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have been in talks to lay the procedural groundwork.
“Leaders have been negotiating all process issues about the trial, and all along we have deferred to them for any announcements about this and all other process matters,” the aide said.
“The president pro tempore has historically presided over Senate impeachment trials of non-presidents. When presiding over an impeachment trial, the president pro tempore takes an additional special oath to do impartial justice according to the Constitution and its laws. It is an oath that I take extraordinarily seriously,” he said in a statement.
