Joe Biden hopes Senate can balance trial, other work
U.S. President-elect Joe Biden on Wednesday called on Senate leadership to work on other business while dealing with their responsibilities on impeachment after a House of Representatives vote that made Donald Trump the first U.S. president ever to be impeached twice.
- World
- AP
- Published Date: 12:06 | 14 January 2021
- Modified Date: 12:06 | 14 January 2021
President-elect Joe Biden says he hopes the Senate can balance a second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump with "other urgent business" as the coronavirus pandemic rages.
In a statement Wednesday evening, Biden did not take a position on whether the Senate should convict Trump after a bipartisan House vote that charged the outgoing president with inciting the violent insurrection on the U.S. Capitol last week as Congress convened to certify Biden's presidential election.
Biden blamed Trump for the "armed insurrection" by his supporters. The president-elect called it "an unprecedented assault on our democracy ... unlike anything we have witnessed in the 244-year history of our nation."
Besides considering Trump's fate, Biden noted that the Senate will be considering his nominations for key leadership posts and additional COVID-19 relief measures. Biden is scheduled to deliver a speech Thursday outlining his proposals to spur vaccine distribution and for additional economic aid.