Republicans seek delay of Trump impeachment trial until February

Senior minority leader Mitch McConnell has sought to delay Senate trial for impeachment until February.

Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell has asked the House Democrats to delay the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump so that he gets time to defend himself in the Senate. He has asked to delay the sending of the single impeachment article to the Senate until January 28. This would start the first phase of the trial and Trump would get two weeks time till February 11 to submit his pre-trial defence. Following this, arguments for the trial would begin by mid-February. For the approval of the proposal, Chuck Schumer who is the majority leader of the Democrats, would have to give a green signal to it.

In order to impeach the president, two-third majority of the Senate is required to vote in favour of the notion. On January 13, the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for the second time but the trial could not take place before the completion of his term on January 20. Democrats have favoured the impeachment and a speedy trial as they had called Trump a "threat" to the nation since he was charged with "incitement of insurrection" for Capitol siege and also that he may be unable to hold federal office in future.