The US Senate adopted the procedure previously proposed by the speaker Mitch McConnell for the impeachment process against President Donald Trump, follows from the vote.
The votes were divided on a party basis: 53 Republicans supported the proposed rules, while 47 Democrats opposed them.
According to the adopted resolution, congressmen must submit all documents on impeachment before 9:00 local time on Wednesday (17:00 Moscow time), and the President’s side must give their answer before 11:00 (19:00). The debate of the parties will begin at 13.00 (21.00) – the prosecution, and then the side of the defense will be given two sessions of the Senate (24 hours of pure time).
After that, the senators will have a total of 16 hours to ask questions to the parties, which, in turn, will then be given another four hours for the debate. Senators can only ask questions in writing through Judge John Roberts.
The resolution also established rules for calling witnesses or additional documents: it is proposed to resolve these issues by voting in the Senate. Before speaking, witnesses will have to give affidavits.
The House of Representatives referred the impeachment case to the Senate last week to conduct a trial of the President. The Chief Justice John Roberts, who will preside over the trial, and the senators, who will serve as the jury, were sworn in. The party will be represented by seven Democratic congressmen, led by Adam Schiff.
Two-thirds of the senators’ votes will be required to remove the President from power. The Republican majority in the Senate does not intend to impeach Trump.
Trump became the third President in history to be impeached. Democrats say Trump was delaying Congressional support for Ukraine, in return demanding for political service from President Vladimir Zelensky in the form of an investigation against Trump’s opponent Joe Biden and his son. Thus, Trump exceeded his authority, and then also prevented Congress from investigating, the impeachment resolution says. Trump claims that he demanded that the Ukrainian authorities only fight corruption. White House lawyers insist that Democrats are violating the US constitution and demanding the Senate to immediately acquit the President.