The U.S. Senate’s procedural hurdles raise the difficulty for Joe Biden’s Cabinet and early legislative priorities to be approved quickly.
President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is set to collide directly with President-elect Joe Biden’s inauguration, Politico reported.
Absent the consent of all 100 senators, Trump’s trial for "incitement of insurrection" will start at 1 p.m. on Jan. 20 - just an hour after Biden is sworn into office and Trump becomes a former president, provided the articles arrive by Jan. 19. And only the same consent from the entire Senate will allow the chamber to create two tracks: One to confirm Biden’s Cabinet and pass his legislative agenda, and another for Trump’s impeachment trial.
Given that many Republicans oppose impeachment or think it’s not even constitutional once Trump has left office, it could be tough to get the cooperation Biden needs to handle a trial alongside Cabinet confirmations and begin work on a new coronavirus stimulus bill. Biden and Democrats say it’s critical to cut a deal that does both, but one single senator can disrupt any effort to multitask.
All that makes for an even higher degree of difficulty for Biden’s Cabinet and early legislative priorities to pass the Senate in his critical first few days in office.
Some Republican senators have even called into question the Senate’s constitutional authority to put a former president on trial.
Biden may enter office with none of his Cabinet nominees confirmed by the Senate, which typically considers an incoming president’s choices ahead of the inauguration. That makes the opening days of his presidency all the more critical.
