The House is in recess this week.
ON THE SENATE FLOOR: The Senate has begun proceedings in the impeachment trial and took up a resolution to establish procedures for the trial of President Trump. Two hours of debate were permitted, but not all of that time was used, and the Senate then turned to amendments offered by Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer. Senator Schumer’s first amendment provided that the Senate subpoena certain White House documents related to military aid that was withheld from Ukraine. As expected, Senators voted along party lines to block Schumer’s proposal by agreeing to Senator McConnell’s motion to table the amendment, 53-47.
Schumer’s second amendment provides that the Senate subpoena certain documents from the State Department. Up to two hours of debate are allowed for each amendment, and Senator Schumer has not said how many amendments he plans to offer. It was Senator McConnell’s intention to have a vote on final passage of the resolution, which requires a simple majority of 51 to pass.
Under McConnell’s proposed resolution, there are three basic segments of the trial: opening arguments, questioning by Senators of the House managers and the president’s team, and debate on whether to allow witnesses to testify and additional documents to be part of the trial.
The resolution provides that the House managers and the president’s team would each be given 24 hours for opening arguments. Under the Majority Leader’s original proposal that he unveiled Monday, the 24 hours of arguments would be compressed into two days. With the Senate convening for the trial each day (except Sunday) at 1 p.m., the two-day limit raised the possibility that opening arguments could go until 1 a.m. or later, accounting for breaks. However, when the resolution was presented to the Senate yesterday, a handwritten change expanded the two days of arguments to three. Neither House Democrats nor the president’s legal team has given any indication yet as to whether they will use all 24 hours for their opening arguments.
After opening arguments, the trial moves to the questioning phase, which would take place over 16 hours under McConnell’s resolution. Senators are not allowed to speak during the proceedings, so they will submit written questions to Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial and will pose the questions to the two teams. (Not only are Senators not allowed to speak, but they must leave their phones and other electronic devices in newly installed cubby holes outside the Senate chamber, and they have been instructed to not bring in reading material unrelated to the trial.)
The third aspect of the trial, which could take place next Thursday, depending on how much time is taken for opening arguments and questions, would be four hours of debate on whether to allow witnesses and additional documents to be subpoenaed. If 51 Senators agree to allow witnesses and additional documents, the trial will go on for an undetermined number of days. If Senator McConnell prevails and the Senate votes against that course of action, the trial is expected to conclude soon thereafter.
USMCA: Following the 89-10 Senate vote on Thursday, January 16, to approve legislation to implement the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement, the next step is a signing ceremony. At the American Farm Bureau Federation convention on Sunday, Trump said, “It’s being prepared now, beautifully prepared,” and “when I come back [from Davos, Switzerland], we’ll have a ceremony, probably in the White House.” Trump is scheduled to leave the World Economic Forum today. A Mexican trade official said last week that she does not expect the Canadian Parliament to ratify the USMCA until April, with the agreement likely to enter into force by July 1.
INFRASTRUCTURE: House Democrats plan to roll out an infrastructure bill next week according to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. The measure would reauthorize surface transportation programs that are scheduled to expire on September 30. The Senate Environment and Public Works Committee unanimously approved a five-year, $287-billion reauthorization bill on July 30. There remains no clear indication of how lawmakers will pay for the reauthorization and new infrastructure initiatives.
COMMITTEE ACTION OF NOTE:
During the impeachment trial, Senate leadership has indicated that committees should only convene on bipartisan business and only report legislation that has unanimous support. Three hearings are scheduled for this week.
January 22
- Senate Environment and Public Works Committee Hearing: Oversight of the Economic Development Administration.
- Senate Commerce, Science and Transportation Committee Hearing: The 5G Workforce and Obstacles to Broadband Deployment.
- Senate Intelligence Committee Closed Hearing.
POLITICS
Iowa Caucuses: We are 12 days away from the Iowa caucuses, and former Vice President Joe Biden leads in two new polls. The Focus on Rural America poll shows Biden with 24%, Senator Elizabeth Warren at 18%, former Mayor Pete Buttigieg at 16%, Senator Bernie Sanders at 14%, and Senator Amy Klobuchar at 11%. Another poll of 300 likely caucus goers conducted January 14–17 by Neighborhood Research and Media shows Biden 23%, Buttigieg 17%, Warren 15%, Klobuchar 11%, and Sanders 10%.
