After voting to block witnesses, the Senate voted Friday to approve a resolution setting the final day of the president’s impeachment trial — and his likely acquittal — for Wednesday, after both the Iowa Caucuses and President Donald Trump's State of the Union address.
Senators debated on how to move forward during a recess after the witness vote’s conclusion. After nearly 90 minutes, it appeared that Senate leaders Mitch McConnell and Chuck Schumer had reached a deal that would pause the trial until Monday and provide each senator with 10 minutes to explain his or her decision on the president’s conviction or acquittal. The Senate voted on the organizing resolution and Democrats brought four amendments to the floor — all of which were defeated.
Chief Justice John Roberts answered a question from Schumer on whether he would cast a tie-breaking vote. Roberts said it would be “inappropriate for me” to break a 50-50 tie.
One of the amendments brought to the Senate floor tonight on impeachment rules would have required Roberts to rule on motions for evidence.
Sen. Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) had previously told reporters the expectation moving forward would not include closed deliberations. "I'm opposed to it and I believe we will not have any closed sessions," he said. The plan voted on did not include such a provision.
The new resolution provided a timetable for the end of the third impeachment trial of a sitting U.S. president. The Senate will recess for the weekend until Monday at 11 a.m. Then House Managers and the defense counsel will each have two hours to make closing arguments. Senators will be allowed to give floor speeches for parts of Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday. The vote would be scheduled for 4 pm Wednesday.
Sen. Tim Scott (R-S.C.) said, upon leaving the GOP meeting, that "the process is important, so having the Democrats buy into this final arrangement, I think is more important than just shoving it down their throats because sooner or later the shoe will be on this foot."
Senators will vote on two articles of impeachment: abuse of power and obstruction of Congress related to allegations President Trump pressured Ukraine to announce investigations into his political rival, former Vice President Joe Biden, and his son Hunter by withholding nearly $400 million in security aid.
Democrats had been pushing to hear from new witnesses since the trial began nearly two weeks ago, especially after John Bolton, the former national security advisor, said he would testify and new evidence was reported by the New York Times indicated Bolton's unpublished manuscript contained details in which the president told advisors to withhold aid to Ukraine as early as last spring. Only two Republicans — Senators Mitt Romney (R-Utah) and Susan Collins (R-Maine) — voted with the Democrats.
Face to face for just over two hours, President Joe Biden and Russia’s Vladimir Putin squared off in a secure video call Tuesday as the U.S. president put Moscow on notice that an invasion of Ukraine would bring enormous harm to the Russian economy.
Ahead of Instagram head Adam Mosseri's congressional hearing on the mental impact of the social platform on teens, the company announced a number of updates aimed at teen safety.
Troubled Chinese real estate giant Evergrande is once again nearing the brink of collapse. Shares of Evergrande sunk to a new record low on Monday, closing down 20 percent, as debt default fears resurfaced. Drew Bernstein, co-chairman at consultancy MarcumBP, joined Cheddar's Opening Bell to discuss. He said U.S. investors have to understand that "there is no company in China that's too big to fail, that's for sure," and that the Chinese government will be prioritizing the social welfare of the populace. Bernstein did note that it would be a managed collapse in some form.
Joan Greve, a politics reporter at The Guardian US, joined Wake Up With Cheddar to break down the implications of the Biden administration announcing a diplomatic boycott of the 2022 Beijing games in response to allegations of human rights abuses against Uyghur Muslims. She noted the significance of the move, assessing the already frayed relationship between the U.S. and China. "The Chinese have said that a boycott would be politically manipulative, and now they are actually threatening countermeasures," she said. "And that will certainly have an impact on the spirit of the games at the very least."
The Biden administration has reached an agreement with the Mexican government to resume the "Remain-in-Mexico" policy under court order. By reinstating a Trump-era border policy, asylum-seekers will be forced to stay in Mexico until their U.S. immigration court date. The program is set to resume on Monday. Ryan Devereaux, a reporter for The Intercept, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
The U.S. announced it will not send any official representation to the upcoming Beijing winter Olympics. Cheddar's Hena Doba speaks with East Asia expert Michael Swaine about the reasons behind the diplomatic move.
COVID-19 is still battering the nation's criminal justice system, causing a massive backlog in cases and delaying verdicts for months on end. This, combined with the fear of crowded prisons during a pandemic, has prompted many defendants to plead guilty in exchange for time served or probation. Tina Luongo, attorney-in-charge of the Criminal Defense Practice, joined Cheddar to discuss the court backlog, the rise in plea bargains, and why this was an issue long before the pandemic.
With so many high-profile court cases taking over the media, from the trial over the murder of Ahmaud Arbery to the trial of Kyle Rittenhouse to the ongoing Elizabeth Holmes trial, Cheddar took a look at these cases and why there is such a big interest in them. Rachel Fiset, a white collar criminal defense lawyer and partner with Zeiback, Fiset, and Coleman, and Bryan Hance, attorney-at-law, professor, and academic program director of the pre-law and paralegal studies program at National University, joined Cheddar for a roundtable discussion on why there is so much public interest in so-called courtroom drama.
Carlo and Baker discuss the sweeping new vaccine mandate in NYC that will target all private businesses. Plus, Trump's media venture gets its CEO and more.
