In a potential sign of the hurdles to come, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell
“If and when our Democratic friends depart from common sense, when they retreat from common ground, when their proposals would harm the common good then we’ll use the power the American people have given us to push for what is right,” McConnell said.
It’s a stark reminder of the partisan divisions awaiting Biden, a decades-long deal cutter who came up through the party’s centrist lane and is pledging to unify an increasingly frayed country.
Hanging over any scheduling in the Capitol is the timing of Trump’s second trial, with senators waiting to see when House Speaker Nancy Pelosi
Republicans say the chances that former President Trump
Only five or six Republican senators at the most seem likely to vote for impeachment, far fewer than the number needed, GOP sources say.
A two-thirds majority vote would be necessary for a conviction, something that would require at least 17 GOP votes if every Democrat votes to convict Trump.
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Senators say a few things have moved in Trump s favor.
One significant development is that Trump decided not to pardon any of the individuals charged with taking part in the Capitol riot, which would have lost him more Republican support.
“I thought if he pardoned people who had been part of this invasion of the Capitol, that would have pushed the number higher because that would have said, ‘These are my guys,’” said one Republican senator, who requested anonymity to speak about how GOP senators are likely to vote.
Piers Morgan told BBC’s Jon Sopel that former President Donald Trump They had a conversation with Trump thinking he was talking to me,” Morgan said in an interview on BBC’s Americast podcast. Morgan explained the story after Sopel asked him why Trump called him this past October.
It is “an absolutely hilarious story, where somebody had called [Trump] pretending to be me the day before and got through to him on Air Force One,” Morgan said.
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Trump only realized it was a prank call after talking to the real Piers Morgan, Morgan said.
The call would be considered a serious security breach. The Hill has reached out to the Secret Service for comment.
By Brett Samuels - 01/22/21 03:56 PM EST
President Biden on Friday suggested he would be open to waiting until next month to begin the Senate impeachment trial of former President Trump
Biden said he had not seen the specifics of a proposal from Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell I do think that having some time to get our administration up and running I want to thank the Senate for passing out our secretary of Defense, it looks like our secretary of Treasury, our secretary of State is in place, he said, though only the head of the Pentagon has officially been confirmed.