The 100-member body of the US senate on Tuesday swore an oath to do “impartial justice” in the unprecedented second impeachment trial of Donald Trump.
Presiding over the trial, senator Patrick Leahy, the Senate pro tempore, administered the oath collectively.
“I do,” the senators said in unison.
Late Monday night, the House of Representatives formally delivered the article of impeachment charging Trump with “incitement of insurrection” for his incendiary speech before a mob of loyalists who attacked the US capitol on 6 January.
After the swearing in, Senate leaders have agreed to a two-week pause in the trial, in order to give Biden time to assemble his cabinet and Trump’s team time to prepare his defense. The trial is scheduled to resume the week of 8 February,
