WASHINGTON — One hundred US Senators raised their right hands and took oaths Tuesday afternoon, sworn in as jurors for a historic impeachment trial.
“We tend to say this might be a once-in-a-lifetime event and for many of them, it is now becoming an annual event, something they never would have anticipated or something a year ago, they certainly would not have seen coming either,” said Ted Frantz, a history professor at University of Indianapolis.
The first trial was just 13 months ago, lasting 21 days before the Senate acquitted then-President Donald Trump.
This time, the trial starts Feb. 8, giving both sides two weeks to prepare before arguments begin.
House Democrats must decide if they’ll call witnesses, which could draw out the process.
“So many of the staff the last time, they were able to invoke executive privilege and say they’re not available,” said Frantz, referring to the then-president’s staff. But Donald Trump is now a former president.
“That’s one of those wrinkles again. We’ve only done this four times with a president or now a former president, and we’ve never done this variation again for somebody who was a president and no longer is,” Frantz said.
That fact has changed who will oversee this trial.
The last time, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts was in charge, per the United States Constitution, because the person on trial was a sitting US president. This time, the job belongs to the Senate’s longest-serving Democrat, Senator Patrick Leahy from Vermont, who was hospitalized Tuesday night.
A 2/3 majority vote is needed for a conviction, requiring 17 Republicans to join the Senate's 50 Democrats. Only one Republican, Senator Mitt Romney, joined Democrats in the push to convict last time.
Some Senate Republicans say a trial will be divisive for the country and is ultimately unconstitutional because Donald Trump is no longer president. Democrats argue it’s about accountability for the Jan. 6 deadly riot at the Capitol while he was president.
“I think a lot of people would prefer just to turn the page, and obviously an impeachment trial is the opposite of turning the page,” Frantz said.