Trump is the only president in history to be impeached twice. Conviction in the Senate, which would require a two-thirds majority vote, could prevent him from ever again holding public office. While McConnell and others have expressed an openness to the charges facing Trump in his second impeachment trial, expectations are low that Democrats will find the votes they need to convict him. Fifty Democrats and 17 Republicans will have to vote in favor of convicting and that’s not likely to happen, with many Republican senators indicating that they oppose the idea. Yesterday, McConnell said he wanted Trump to have at least a week to prepare for the trial after the impeachment articles were presented to the Senate. But, in rejecting McConnell’s offer to delay transferring the articles from the House, Democrats did more than press the case against Trump. They also staked out a tough stance in an internal Senate power struggle, as the newly installed Joe Biden administration prepares to ask Republicans for support on initiatives including pandemic policy, economic relief and immigration reform. McConnell and Republicans lost control of the Senate with a double loss in runoff elections in Georgia earlier this month. But McConnell has been fighting for advantage, refusing to approve a basic power-sharing agreement in a body now split 50-50, unless Schumer promised to retain a Senate filibuster rule that enables the minority party to block legislation with only 41 votes. Schumer rejected that pitch by McConnell on Friday, too, demanding that Republicans approve the organizing agreement, which would for example grant the parties an equal number of members on each committee, with no strings attached. “Leader McConnell’s proposal is unacceptable – and it won’t be accepted,” Schumer said. The pair of forceful moves by the Democratic leadership signaled an intention to deliver on a mandate they feel they won last November and displayed an unaccustomed assertiveness after four years of Trump and McConnell. But the power plays also called more deeply into question whether Biden would benefit from any measure of Republican support as he attempts to answer multiple national crises. The schedule for the impeachment trial is as follows: 25 January: House impeachment managers will read the article of impeachment to the Senate. 26 January: Senators will be sworn in for the trial. 8 February: Trump’s response to the article is due. 9 February: Trump’s pre-trial brief is due, and after that’s in, the trial can begin. Chances that the Senate will convict Donald Trump are very low. Fifty Democrats and 17 Republicans will have to vote in favor of convicting – and that’s not likely to happen with many Republican senators indicating that they oppose the idea. CNN reports: In interviews with more than a dozen GOP senators, the consensus was clear: Most Republicans are likely to acquit Trump, and only a handful are truly at risk of flipping to convict the former President – unless more evidence emerges or the political dynamics within their party dramatically change. Yet Republicans are also signaling that as more time has passed since the riot, some of the emotions of the day have cooled and they’re ready to move on. Joe Biden today endorsed delaying the impeachment trial, saying, “the more time we have to get up and running” to address the pandemic, economic crisis and other issues, the better. Schumer said he and McConnell will iron out details about the timing and duration of the trial. “But make no mistake, a trial will be held in the United States Senate, and there will be a vote on whether to convict the president,” he said. Schumer says impeachment trial will start second week of February Senate leader Chuck Schumer has announced that House managers read the articles of impeachment on Monday evening, and the trial of Donald Trump will begin the week of 8 February. Yesterday, Republican leader Mitch McConnell said he wanted Trump to have at least a week to prepare for the trial after the impeachment articles were presented to the Senate. Shortly after his confirmation, defense secretary Lloyd Austin made his first official phone call to the Nato secretary general, Jens Stoltenberg. Austin said they discussed ongoing alliances – sending a strong message that he’s interested in rebuilding partnerships after Donald Trump. One of the executive orders Joe Biden signed today instructs the treasury department to make it easier for people to access their stimulus checks, including developing online systems to help them access their payments. In a statement, the treasury said it will “establish online tools” to help people claim payments, work to reach households that have not cashed their payments, and look into which groups have been worst affected The latest round of $600 stimulus money came to many as pre-paid debit cards, causing confusion and concern that it was a scam. Delivery delays, bank changes and address changes are among an array of issues plaguing the distribution. An estimated 8 million have also yet to receive the first round of stimulus checks authorized by the Cares Act. Revealed: Club for Growth is main donor to gun-toting Republican congressman Stephanie Kirchgaessner The Club for Growth, an anti-tax group funded by billionaires, has been the primary financial backer of Andy Harris, the Republican lawmaker who sought to bring a gun to the floor of the House of Representatives. Harris, a medical doctor who represents the eastern shore of Maryland, has received about $345,000 from individuals associated with the Club for Growth since the rightwing campaigners helped to get him elected in 2010, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. The latest revelation about the Club for Growth’s support for Harris comes after the Guardian revealed last week that the group, which is headed by the former Republican congressman David McIntosh, was a major financial support of 42 of the Republicans who sought to invalidate Joseph Biden’s victory in the 2020 election. It has also supported another lawmaker, Lauren Boebert, who has argued for the need for firearms to be carried inside the US Capitol. Members may only carry firearms in their own offices. CNN reported on Friday that the US Capitol police were investigating an incident that occurred on Thursday, when Harris was stopped from bringing a concealed weapon on to the floor of the House. The Republican, who is an anaesthesiologist, had set off the newly installed metal detectors outside the chamber, prompting him to ask another lawmaker, Republican John Katko, to hold the weapon for him. Katko refused, according to a press pool, and Harris then left and returned later, without setting off the metal detector. Bryan Shuy, Harris’s chief of staff, said in a statement released to the Guardian: “Because his and his family’s lives have been threatened by someone who has been released awaiting trial, for security reasons, the congressman never confirms whether he nor anyone else he’s with are carrying a firearm for self-defense.” Shuy added: “As a matter of public record, he has a Maryland handgun permit. And the congressman always complies with the House metal detectors and wanding. The congressman has never carried a firearm on the House floor.” The Club for Growth did not respond to a request for comment. Hello there, it’s Maanvi Singh – I’ll be bringing you live updates through the next few hours. First up, here’s the US embassy in London’s response to tabloid controversy over Biden’s Oval Office makeover – which included the removal of a Winston Churchill bust. It’s “just a bust”, the US embassy declared, in a video pointing to examples of the“special relationship” between the US and the UK. The video, which has attracted a good bit of online engagement and media coverage, you could say, isn’t a total bust. (Sorry.) Outbreak of coronavirus among national guard securing Capitol – reports Between 100 and 200 national guard deployed to Washington DC to provide security for Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration have tested positive for the coronavirus, a US official said on Friday. The official, speaking to the Reuters news agency on condition of anonymity, said the number could rise but was still a small percentage of the more than 25,000 troops that were in city over the past few days. Politico reported this story a little earlier. The national guard has struggled to implement a plan to test troops flowing into and out of Washington DC, for Covid-19, with some guard members being forced to find their own tests and others pressured to leave their quarantine early to report to duty. Already, hundreds of guard members who poured into Washington after the 6 January assault on the US Capitol have tested positive for Covid-19 or are quarantining in nearby hotels, three guard sources said. Guard leadership has declined to release an official number of positive cases, but troops and lawmakers alike worry that the deployment is becoming a super-spreader event. “Ideally, these guys should all be in hotels. When they’re taking rest time, they should be taking it outside the campus with an ability to be separated and socially distanced,” Senator Chris Murphy (Democrat of Connecticut) said. “Ultimately we’ve got to make sure that they’re not taking their extended rest time on campus, that they’re in hotel rooms.” The problem was compounded on Thursday night, when thousands of troops who had been standing duty in the US Capitol were told to vacate congressional buildings and take their rest breaks outside and in nearby parking garages. Politico obtained photos of guard members packed together and sleeping on the ground in the garages. One unit was forced to rest in a garage with only one bathroom available for 5,000 troops. A slim majority of Americans say the former president, Donald Trump, should be convicted by the Senate in his impeachment trial of inciting an insurrection and then be barred from holding public office, a new opinion poll shows. Unsurprisingly, the new Reuters/Ipsos poll shows a sharp partisan divide over the issue. The House of Representatives plans to deliver the article of impeachment - effectively the charge against Trump - to the Senate on Monday, which triggers the trial in the Senate although currently there is no agreed date for when that will begin or how long it will last. Senate Democrats are keen to begin the trial asap, even as soon as Tuesday, confident they can work on Joe Biden’s agenda and cabinet confirmations in conjunction with a trial (which is surely a tall order). Senate Republicans, led by now-minority leader Mitch McConnell, are pushing to delay until perhaps mid-February. New York Democratic Senator and now-majority leader Chuck Schumer has slapped that idea down. They’re expected to thrash out some sort of an agreement by/on Monday. But here’s a reminder of what the president, Biden, said in response to a question shouted to him at the end of his executive order signing ceremony earlier, tweeted by the Guardian’s senior political reporter Lauren Gambino: Another 37% said Trump should not be convicted and the remaining 12% said they were unsure. When asked about the former Republican president’s political future, 55% said Trump should not be allowed to hold elected office again, while 34% said he should be allowed to do so and 11% said they were unsure. If the Senate votes to convict Trump, it would need to hold a second vote to bar him from holding office again. The responses were almost entirely divided along party lines. While nine out of 10 Democrats say Trump should be convicted and barred from holding office again, less than two in 10 Republicans agreed, the poll showed. The poll also found that 55% percent of Americans approved of the new president, Joe Biden, who was inaugurated on Wednesday. In comparison, 43% approved of Trump during his first week of office in 2017, and Trump’s level of approval never rose above 50% in weekly polls conducted throughout his four-year term. Today so far That’s it from me today. My Guardian colleagues will take over the blog for the next few hours. Here’s where the day stands so far: Joe Biden signed two executive orders aimed at providing economic relief to American families amid the coronavirus pandemic. The two orders will expand the food stamps program and provide unemployment benefits to workers who leave their jobs due to health concerns. “We cannot, will not let people go hungry,” the president said. “We cannot watch people lose their jobs. We have to act.” House speaker Nancy Pelosi said she will send the article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday. After the article is received, the Senate will hold a trial and then vote on whether or not Donald Trump should be convicted for incitement of insurrection. The Senate confirmed Lloyd Austin as defense secretary, in a vote of 93 to 2. Austin, a retired Army general, will be the first African-American to lead the defense department. Biden is asking the director of national intelligence to conduct a threat assessment of violent domestic extremism. The White House press secretary, Jen Psaki, said Biden would also instruct the National Security Council to ramp up its capacity to address extremism and coordinate across the government to confront extremism. The news comes less than a month after a violent, pro-Trump mob attacked the Capitol. The blog will have more coming up, so stay tuned. The odds of Donald Trump being convicted by the Senate are extremely small, as a number of Republican senators indicate opposition to the idea. CNN reports: After Democratic leaders announced they would kick off the process to begin the impeachment trial on Monday, Republicans grew sharply critical about the proceedings -- and made clear that they saw virtually no chance that at least 17 Republicans would join with 50 Democrats to convict Trump and also bar him from ever running from office again. In interviews with more than a dozen GOP senators, the consensus was clear: Most Republicans are likely to acquit Trump, and only a handful are truly at risk of flipping to convict the former President -- unless more evidence emerges or the political dynamics within their party dramatically change. Yet Republicans are also signaling that as more time has passed since the riot, some of the emotions of the day have cooled and they’re ready to move on. ‘The chances of getting a conviction are virtually nil,’ said Sen. Roger Wicker, a Mississippi Republican. Nancy Pelosi said today that she would transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday, so the trial will begin next week unless majority leader Chuck Schumer and minority leader Mitch McConnell can reach an agreement to delay arguments. The House passed the article last week, with every Democrat and 10 Republicans voting in favor of it, making it the most bipartisan presidential impeachment in history. There are no more Senate votes expected today, after the chamber confirmed Lloyd Austin as defense secretary this morning. Senators had said they thought the chamber would confirm Janet Yellen as treasury secretary this afternoon, but that vote appears to have been pushed to next week. Anthony Blinken, Joe Biden’s nominee to lead the state department, will also have to wait until next week to be confirmed. So far, only two of Biden’s cabinet nominees -- Austin and Avril Haines, the director of national intelligence -- have been confirmed by the Senate. Nancy Pelosi has sent a “Dear colleague” letter to House Democrats, outlining the chamber’s agenda as the speaker prepares to transmit the article of impeachment on Monday. “Monday, January 25, will be a momentous and solemn day, as the House sadly transmits the Article of Impeachment for Donald Trump to the Senate,” Pelosi said. “Our Constitution and country are well-served by our outstanding impeachment managers.” Pelosi emphasized that the House would continue to work on coronavirus relief as the Senate looks toward beginning the impeachment trial. “As we work to defend our Constitution and our Democracy, the Democratic House remains hard at work to save the lives and livelihoods of the American people from the pandemic and economic crises,” Pelosi said. “We applaud the actions taken by President Biden, starting on Day One of his Administration, and are working to turn his national strategy for COVID response and preparedness into legislation that will pass both chambers and be signed into law.” Pelosi added that she expected to soon have updates on the review of Capitol security in response to the violent attack on the building earlier this month. “Relatedly, when we return to session, we will pass a rule change mandating fines for Members who refuse to follow new screening protocols for the House Chamber,” Pelosi said. A number of House Republicans have been seen ignoring the metal detectors set up outside the chamber after the Capitol attack, and one member – Andy Harris – set off the detectors yesterday because he almost walked on to the floor while carrying a concealed gun. Biden signs two executive orders to provide economic relief Joe Biden has now signed his two executive orders to aid American families who are financially suffering as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. One executive order will expand the food stamps program, and the other will allow workers who fear their jobs jeopardize their health to qualify for unemployment insurance if they quit. After signing the orders, the president took one question from a reporter, who asked whether Biden supported Mitch McConnell’s proposal to delay the impeachment trial until February. Biden said he wasn’t aware of all the details of McConnell’s proposal, but he told reporters: “The more time we have to get up and running to meet these crises, the better.” The House speaker, Nancy Pelosi, announced earlier today that she would transmit the article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday. Joe Biden said he hoped his administration would exceed his original goal of distributing 100m coronavirus vaccine doses over his first 100 days in office. “We’re going to, God willing, not only do 100m, we’re going do more than that,” the president said. After Biden announced the 100m doses goal, there were reports that some of his health advisers were skeptical it could be achieved. But in the week before Biden took office, the US was distributing an average of about 900,000 doses a day, sparking questions about whether the new administration should aim higher. Biden says government has a "moral obligation" to provide economic relief Joe Biden emphasized the urgent need to pass another coronavirus relief bill, describing it as an “economic imperative”. “We cannot, will not let people go hungry,” the president said. “We cannot watch people lose their jobs. We have to act.” Biden is expected to soon sign executive orders that will expand the food stamps program and provide more workplace protections for Americans worried about risking their health for a paycheck. The president has also proposed a $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package, but it’s unclear whether the proposal can pass the Senate, which is evenly split between Democrats and Republicans. “It’s not just to meet the moral obligation,” Biden said of the need for coronavirus relief. “This is an economic imperative.” Biden holds event to sign economic executive orders Joe Biden has arrived in the White House’s State Dining Room for his event on addressing the financial fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. The president noted that another 900,000 Americans filed initial claims for unemployment benefits last week, joining millions of others who are out of work as the economy suffers. Biden is expected to soon sign executive orders aimed at aiding American families who are financially suffering because of the pandemic.