Senate

Roberts, senators to be sworn in Thursday for impeachment trial

by Jordain Carney - 01/15/20 11:25 AM ET

Chief Justice John Roberts and every senator will be sworn in as soon as Thursday for the soon-to-begin impeachment trial.

A Senate GOP leadership aide said on Wednesday that the House managers are expected to come to the chamber on Thursday to read the articles of impeachment against President Trump.

After that Roberts is expected to be sworn in. He will then swear in all 100 senators, according to the aide.

The new details on what the first few days of the impeachment trial will look like come after House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) announced the seven House impeachment managers on Wednesday. The House is expected to vote later Wednesday to formally name the managers and transmit the two impeachment articles to the Senate.

The move will shift the impeachment fight to the Senate after a weeks-long delay amid a standoff between Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.).

McConnell and Schumer circulated a “Dear Colleague” letter to senators and staff on Wednesday detailing what they can expect during the trial.

“Following past practice, the upcoming impeachment trial necessitates some access modifications to the Senate Wing of the Capitol, the Senate floor and the galleries,” they wrote in a three-page letter.

Senators are also circulating rules for senators during the impeachment trial, including banning lawmakers from bringing electronics on the floor. That rule, in particular, has earned public grumbling from lawmakers, who will be required to sit silently in their chairs during the trial.

“We will not have our electronic devices. I just saw a piece of cabinetry in the cloakroom where we will be required to turn over our iPads and our iPhones,” Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas) said this week.

The document sent to senators does not detail what restrictions will be put on reporters in the Capitol to cover the trial, though Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told reporters on Tuesday that it was discussed during the closed-door caucus lunch.

Reports of a planned crackdown on media access drew swift backlash on Tuesday.

The restrictions, according to the Standing Committee of Correspondents, include confining reporters to a single press pen on the second floor of the Senate. If implemented, it would curtail reporters’ access to senators during a historic impeachment trial.

Tags Articles of impeachment Donald Trump Impeachment John Cornyn Kevin Cramer Mitch McConnell Nancy Pelosi