How a Senate impeachment trial works

A Senate impeachment trial is a rare thing — it has happened only two other times in American history and once in the modern era. Here’s the nitty-gritty of how we believe each day will work, based on a reading of the Senate rules about how to hold trials, how President Bill Clinton’s impeachment trial was run, and our current understanding of the expected schedule.

The ceremonial beginning: Wednesday and Thursday
After the House voted on sending the articles of impeachment to the Senate, the team of House prosecutors known as impeachment managers walked the charges across the Capitol to the Senate.

The managers will present articles of impeachment — literally by reading them — to a full Senate on Thursday at 12.

By Thursday afternoon, Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. will arrive and be sworn in as presider by Senate President Pro Tempore Charles E. Grassley (R-Iowa). Then Roberts will swear in the 100 senators who will serve as jurors. Here’s the oath they take: