2:11
- ABC News
- January 18, 2020
The Senate impeachment trial simplified
The trial of President Donald Trump resumes on Tuesday.
2:11
The Sergeant at Arms will be seen throughout the proceedings. As the current Sergeant at Arms, Michael Stenger will enforce the Senate's rules of decorum and tradition. He walked with the House managers on Thursday as they formally delivered the articles of impeachment to the Senate.
He also escorted Chief Justice John Roberts -- who will act as presiding officer -- to the Senate.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/roberts-1-ap-er-200116_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
He will likely be heard announcing: 'Hear ye! Hear ye!\" Hear ye!\" All persons are commanded to keep silent, on pain of imprisonment\" at the start of each session.
\"Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye: all persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment, while the House of Representatives is exhibiting to the Senate of the United States articles of impeachment against Donald John Trump, president.\" https://t.co/lmJgZSs2bJ pic.twitter.com/KU7W3VOGWU
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 16, 2020
The \"walk\" is a Senate impeachment trial tradition, when after the articles of impeachment are signed by the House Speaker, they are hand delivered to the Senate floor by the House managers.
The managers completed the \"walk\" from the House to the Senate chamber on Wednesday, led by the House Clerk and the Senate Sergeant at Arms.
A HISTORIC WALK: The impeachment managers are delivering the articles of impeachment to the Senate as the next phase of the impeachment case against President Trump is set to begin in the upper chamber. https://t.co/B2Gi9hPcTD pic.twitter.com/3WIm0Xgz8j
— ABC News (@ABC) January 15, 2020
Schiff, on behalf of the House managers, \"exhibited\" the articles of impeachment on the Senate floor on Thursday. Or, in layman's terms, he read the two allegations aloud: Article One, which alleges abuse of power, and Article Two, which charges obstruction of Congress.
\"Donald J. Trump has abused the power of the presidency.\"
— World News Tonight (@ABCWorldNews) January 16, 2020
Lead House impeachment manager Adam Schiff reads the articles of impeachment on the Senate floor, charging President Trump with \"high crimes and misdemeanors.\" https://t.co/JfLWh2ZXgd pic.twitter.com/4tU646i1Al
The presiding officer in this impeachment trial is, as spelled out in the Constitution, the Chief Justice of the United States, or in this case, Roberts.
![\"PHOTO:In](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/roberts-3-ap-er-200116_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
The presiding officer sits in place of the vice president -- currently Mike Pence -- to avoid any a conflict of interest.
The jurors for impeachment trials are the 100 members of the U.S. Senate. Senators take an oath, administered by the Chief Justice, to be \"impartial,\" meaning they will put partisanship aside and consider only the facts at hand. In Trump's case, only 99 senators took the oath -- as Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe wasn't present on Thursday.
After the senators take this oath, they walk over to the \"well\" of the Senate -- jargon for the area in front of the dais -- to sign the \"oath book.\"
BREAKING: Chief Justice John Roberts: \"Do you solemnly wear that in all things appertaining to the trial of the impeachment of Donald John Trump...you will do impartial justice according to the Constitution and laws, so help you God?\"
— ABC News Politics (@ABCPolitics) January 16, 2020
Senators: \"I do.\" https://t.co/lmJgZSs2bJ pic.twitter.com/G45grkzhjK
The Senate Parliamentarian is essentially the main adviser to the Chief Justice on how to carry out the rules and traditions of the trial. Elizabeth MacDonough will fill this role, and during the trial will sit on the Senate dais near Roberts so she can quietly confer with him.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/impeachment-5-ap-er-200116_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
As an impeachment trial begins, the Senate delivers a \"writ of summons\" to the president that outlines the articles -- or charges-- against him. The summons sets a deadline for the president to respond to the charges – which for President Trump is Saturday by 6 p.m.
There are several rules of decorum that are worth noting.
When the Chief Justice arrives on the Senate floor each day, the senators are expected to \"silently rise\" and remain standing until he takes his seat on the dais. They must do the same when he leaves the chamber.
As the Sergeant at Arms announces senators are \"to keep silent on pain of imprisonment…,\" fear not, there is no threat of being thrown into the \"Capitol dungeon.\" Instead, Roberts will order any disruptive senators to keep quiet or have the Sergeant at Arms escort the member out of the chamber.
\"Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye: All persons are commanded to keep silent on pain of imprisonment while the House of Representatives is exhibiting to the Senate of the United States articles of impeachment against Donald John Trump, president.\" https://t.co/2Eyoi17Rku pic.twitter.com/Jj8t2ZqYga
— ABC News (@ABC) January 16, 2020
Senators are not only restricted from speaking in the chamber when the trial is underway, they also are not allowed to have any reading material on them that's not related to the impeachment trial -- books and magazines, for example, are prohibited.
Cell phones are also not allowed on the Senate floor during the proceedings.
![\"PHOTO:](\"http://a.abcnews.com/images/Politics/mitch-1-ap-er-200116_hpMain_4x3t_384.jpg\")
That being said, \"Senate pages,\" or high-school students who act as messengers, will deliver messages from inside and outside the chamber.
The impeachment trial -- likely to take up most of next week -- will rock more than the White House and Capitol Hill though. It has also scrambled the Democratic presidential primary, forcing the four senators in the race to overhaul their campaign schedules, even as the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary get closer.
ABC News' Benjamin Siegel, Anne Flaherty and Michelle Stoddart contributed to this report.
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