Impeachment: Senate now to deal with Donald Trump

US Senate receives article of impeachment against Donald Trump for insurrection, but some believe chances of conviction are fading.

The Senate has received the article of impeachment against Donald Trump for insurrection, but Democrats are struggling to raise the votes needed to find him guilty in a trial.

The move comes as the Justice Department’s inspector-general said he would investigate whether any department officials engaged in ‘‘improper conduct’’ to overturn Joe Biden’s election victory.

The new President at the same time launched his Made in America campaign to boost investment in US manufacturing and jobs.

Democrat House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and impeachment leaders walked the article of impeachment from the house to the Senate in a ceremony on Tuesday.

The move automatically triggers a Senate trial, but Senate leaders Chuck Schumer and Mitch McConnell have agreed to delay a trial until February 9, to give Mr Trump’s legal team time to prepare a defence.

Congressman Jamie Raskin, the lead impeachment manager, read out the charge against Mr Trump on the Senate floor.

“Donald John Trump engaged in high crimes and misdemeanours by inciting violence against the government of the United States,” Mr Raskin said. “He threatened the integrity of the democratic system, interfered with the peaceful transition of power and imperilled a co-equal branch of government.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell heads back to his office after calling the Senate into session. Picture: Getty Images

The Democrats had little choice but to grant Republican ­requests to delay the trial to allow the former president to prepare his defence.

The Democrats need 17 Senate ­Republicans to cross the floor to vote with them in order to convict Mr Trump for inciting his supporters ahead on the deadly storming of the Capitol on January 6.

“We must not give Donald Trump a pass for inciting a deadly insurrection on our Capitol just a few weeks ago,” house judiciary committee chairman Jerrold ­Nadler said.

“He must be held accountable. The future of this country is at stake. The house has done its job by impeaching Trump, and now the Senate must complete the task by ensuring that he is never again in a position to directly harm the United States.”

But some Democrats believe that the chances of convicting Mr Trump are fading with each day that he is out of office, as tempers and passions cool with time.

Only six Republican senators have been strongly critical of Mr Trump’s behaviour in inciting the crowd before the attack on the Capitol, but it is unclear even if these senators will vote to convict.

Those Republican senators who have criticised Mr Trump are Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse, Pat Toomey, Lisa Murkowski, Susan Collins and Mitch McConnell. The ranking Republican, Senator McConnell, has said members can vote according to their conscience.

Meanwhile, the DOJ inspector-general, Michael Horowitz, will examine whether officials ­inside the department somehow helped Mr Trump as he sought more probes into his belief that the November 3 election was rigged.

The move follows reports that Mr Trump debated whether to ­replace the acting attorney-general with another official who would support his claim of electoral fraud. The New York Times reported that senior DOJ official Jeffrey Clark had pushed his staff to help the then president undo his election loss.

Donald Trump boards Marine One and leaves the White House on January 20. Picture: AFP

Mr Trump was also reported to have pushed the DOJ to ask the Supreme Court to invalidate Mr Biden’s victory. “(It’s is) unconscionable that a Trump Justice ­Department leader would conspire to subvert the people’s will,’’ Senator Schumer said.

Meanwhile, Mr Biden has announced his own manufacturing version of Mr Trump’s America First policy by announcing his own Made In America policy, which aims to boost investment in “America workers, unions and businesses”.

“The previous organisation didn’t take it seriously enough,’’ Mr Biden said. “America can’t sit on the sidelines in the race for the future … (we must) ensure the ­future is made in America.’’

He said his executive order would force companies, big and small, to make more components in the US to support the economy and American jobs.

It comes as former White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announced her candidacy for governor of Arkansas. Her father Mike Huckabee was a former governor of the state.