Donald Trump
Donald TrumpReuters

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi announced on Friday that House Democrats plan to send the article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday, triggering the start of the Senate's trial of former President Donald Trump, CNN reports.

Unless senators strike an agreement to delay the trial, it would begin on Tuesday at 1:00 p.m. ET.

The House of Representatives last week voted to impeach Trump for "inciting insurrection" after a mob of his supporters stormed the US Capitol earlier this month, marking the second time he has been impeached.

Senator Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who at the time served as Senate Majority Leader, refused to reconvene the Senate before January 19 to allow an impeachment trial while Trump was still in office.

The impeachment trial threatens to stall the confirmation of President Joe Biden's Cabinet, as the trial's timing is wrapped up into broader negotiations between Schumer and McConnell over how the 50-50 Senate will be governed.

McConnell on Thursday proposed delaying the trial until mid-February, and Republicans said Friday they would not agree to consider Biden's nominees while the trial is ongoing, noted CNN.

Short of an agreement to push the trial back, Democratic sources say that the article would be read, and senators and the presiding officer would be sworn in on Tuesday afternoon. Then arguments would start Wednesday.

The length of the trial is still an open question and will depend both on whether the House impeachment managers seek to call witnesses and the length of senators' questions for the legal teams. But sources say most believe the trial will be shorter than the three-week 2020 impeachment trial for Trump.

(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)