Donald Trump: impeachment proceedings begin in the second week of February

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Donald Trump performing in Las Vegas (archive image)

Photo: JONATHAN ERNST / REUTERS

The second impeachment proceedings against former US President Donald Trump are due to begin in the second week of February.

This was announced by the Democratic majority leader in the US Senate, Chuck Schumer, on Friday (local time).

Trump's term of office ended this week - but the trial could result in a life ban for him.

The Democrats want to hold Trump accountable for the attack by his supporters on the US Capitol on January 6th and accuse him of "inciting a riot".

Trump has had to face impeachment proceedings that ended in an acquittal.

On Monday, the US Senate, in which the trial is being heard, will receive the indictment from the House of Representatives.

Afterwards, the so-called impeachment managers, who represent the House of Representatives as prosecutors in the proceedings, will read out the indictment in the Senate.

For Tuesday, the swearing-in of the members of the process, which is similar to a court case, said Schumer.

To do this, the presiding judge at the Supreme Court, John Roberts, must first be sworn in as head of the impeachment proceedings.

He, in turn, has to take the oath from the 100 senators who take the role of jury in the process and make the final decision.

From then on, the prosecutors and defense lawyers would have time to work out their positions, Schumer said.

The opening speeches - which mark the actual beginning of the impeachment process - should then begin in the week of February 8, as Schumer said.

Senate leader Mitch McConnell had originally proposed an even later start.

January 6, with the riot at the Capitol instigated by Trump, "was a day none of us will ever forget," said Schumer.

Angry Trump supporters broke into the parliament building after an inciting speech by the Republican.

At the time, Congress had met there to formally confirm the election victory of the new President Joe Biden.

Five people were killed in the riot, including a police officer.

"Truth and accountability"

“We all want to leave this terrible chapter in our nation's history behind us.

But there will only be healing and unity if there is truth and accountability, «said Schumer.

The impeachment procedure could take care of that.

The Democrats and Republicans each hold 50 seats in the Senate.

If there is a stalemate, Vice President Kamala Harris can cast the decisive vote for the Democrats.

A two-thirds majority is necessary for a successful impeachment.

So far it is unclear whether enough Republicans would vote to convict Trump.

While the prosecutors and defense attorneys worked on their impeachment papers, the Senate would take care of other important matters, Schumer said.

This suits the new President Joe Biden, as he depends on the approval of the Senate for the confirmation of his cabinet members and other top personalities.

Biden is promoting his stimulus package

The vote on Biden's candidate for leadership of the Treasury, Janet Yellen, is scheduled for Monday afternoon (local time).

In addition, Biden wants to quickly bring an economic stimulus package of around 1.9 trillion US dollars (just under 1.6 trillion euros) through Congress.

Biden strongly promotes this.

"We must act decisively and courageously," demanded Biden on Friday, his third day in office.

In view of the corona crisis, it is necessary to stimulate the economy in order to avert worse long-term damage, said Biden in the White House.

"Our economy will be stronger both in the short and long term."

In view of the extremely low interest rates, the additional borrowing from the economic stimulus package is a “smart investment” for the state, the Democrat said.

"We have to act now," he said.

The package proposed by Biden would correspond to almost ten percent of the US economic output (GDP).

The Democrats now control both chambers of Congress.

In the Senate, however, Biden will also have to rely on the support of individual Republicans for the stimulus package.

Previous statements by moderate Republicans show skepticism - also because Congress had only approved an aid package worth around 900 billion dollars at the end of December.

Immediately after the corona pandemic escalated in the United States, Congress had already approved economic stimulus packages worth almost three trillion dollars last spring.

The US economy continues to suffer massively from the corona crisis.

The official unemployment rate is 6.7 percent.

Before the crisis, it was 3.5 percent.

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hen / dpa