McConnell Says He Can't Bring Senate Back Early

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell isn't planning to bring the Senate back early to kick President Trump out of office early. Ahead of the expected House vote Wednesday to impeach the president for a second time, McConnell's office informed Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer's office that he would not reconvene the Senate prior to its scheduled Jan. 19 return, the Hill reports. The memo said it would require the consent of all 100 senators to conduct business early, and that the trial won't begin until "President Trump’s term has expired—either one hour after its expiration on Jan. 20 or twenty-five hours after its expiration on Jan. 21."

Schumer, however, argued Tuesday that a 2004 law allows the Senate majority and minority leaders to reconvene without unanimous consent for an emergency, and "now is a time of emergency," CNN reports. "We could come back ASAP and vote to convict Donald Trump, and get him out of office now before any further damage is done," the Democrat said. Sources told the New York Times Tuesday that McConnell told associates he believes Trump committed impeachable offenses in inciting the Capitol riot and he is glad Democrats are moving forward with the process. The Washington Post reports that McConnell told his GOP colleagues Wednesday that he hasn't ruled out voting to convict Trump, and will "listen to the legal arguments when they are presented to the Senate." (More Trump impeachment stories.)