Rules and Procedures for the Senate Impeachment Trial -- This is Historic

[ancianita]

Last edited Thu Dec 5, 2019, 11:40 PM - Edit history (1)

We have to know what can or cannot happen, what the rules, procedures are and, who/how they can be changed. Because it's a political process. We want to be ready for surprises.

But for all Mitch McConnell says, I'm pretty sure that this headline cannot happen.

https://www.democraticunderground.com/100212754399

I'm thinking of how the GOP strategized at lunch yesterday during the House Judiciary Committee Impeachment hearing. I'm pretty sure that's why Speaker Pelosi is proceeding with all due speed.



One can go to senate.gov https://www.senate.gov/reference/reference_index_subjects/Rules_and_Procedure_vrd.htm

But I think Public Citizen's site is a bit more accessible.

https://www.citizen.org/article/senate-impeachment-trial-procedure/

Of possible interest:

What existing rules govern impeachment?

S. Constitution: Article I, Section 3 and Article II, Section 4

Rules of Procedure and Practice in the Senate when Sitting on Impeachment Trials

The Standing Rules of the Senate, which are applicable when the Senate Impeachment Rules are silent. (Report on Impeachment Procedure at 8)

The "one day's notice" is significant.

Like any Senate rules, the Senate Impeachment Rules can be amended. A motion to amend them is debatable, subject to the legislative filibuster, and therefore, in the current Senate, would require at least 67 votes (unless there was unanimous consent or the majority invokes the so-called “nuclear option” to do away with the legislative filibuster altogether).

For example, the Senate unanimously adopted a set of modifications to the Senate Impeachment Rules at the beginning of the trial relating to the impeachment of President Clinton.

A motion “to suspend, modify, or amend any rule, or any part thereof,” is not in order without “one day’s notice in writing, specifying precisely the rule or part proposed to be suspended, modified, or amended, and the purpose thereof.” Standing Rule V.1.

In addition, “[a]ny rule may be suspended without notice by the unanimous consent of the Senate, except as otherwise provided by the rules.” Id. Unanimous consent is an ordinary feature of Senate procedure and was employed frequently during the impeachment trial of President Clinton.

Must the Senate hold a trial on articles of impeachment adopted by the House, and if so, when?

The Senate Impeachment Rules require the Senate to hold a trial on articles of impeachment adopted by the House. The Senate trial must commence no later than 1 pm on the day after the articles of impeachment have been presented to the Senate, and the Senate must “continue in session from day to day (Sundays excepted) after the trial shall commence (unless otherwise ordered by the Senate) until final judgment shall be rendered, and so much longer as may, in its judgment, be needful.” (Rule 3.)

This is a worthwhile read, and I hope any lawyers in the DU house can answer questions the rest of us have.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

1. thanks for the links!

I missed this when you first posted -- first hit on duckduckgo.com when searching for "Rules of Procedure and Practice in the Senate when Sitting on Impeachment Trials."