Impeachment of Donald Trump: Chief justice, senators sworn in (live updates, livestream)

At noon, the Senate received the seven U.S. House of Representatives managers chosen by Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-California, to present the House’s case against Trump.

The managers appointed by Pelosi are Reps. Adam Schiff of California, the chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Jerrold Nadler of New York, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Zoe Lofgren of California, Hakeem Jeffries of New York, Val Demings of Florida, Jason Crow of Colorado and Sylvia Garcia of Texas.

On Wednesday, a House delegation notified the Senate that it had appointed managers to exhibit the two articles of impeachment. The Senate notified the House that it would receive the articles as well as the managers in the Senate chamber at noon Thursday.

The managers came to the Senate chamber and were led nto the well – the main floor of the chamber – where Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, read aloud the two articles of impeachment.

At 2 p.m., U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts will be brought into the Senate chamber to take an oath to do “impartial justice” as he presides over the trial.

Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, president pro tempore of the Senate, will administer the oath to Roberts. Then, Roberts will administer the same oath to the 100 senators.

Sometime during the day, Trump will receive a summons that explains the charges. The president is then given time to answer those charges.

The answer will likely come in written form.

The Senate will reconvene on Tuesday to begin the trial. Monday is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday.

Live updates of Thursday’s events in the Senate will begin at 10:30 a.m. ET just before the Senate votes on one of the Trump administration’s biggest victories – the new United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement. That vote is scheduled for 11 a.m. ET.

The Senate proceedings will be livestreamed below.

Live updates

Motions and adjournment

2:33 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: The sergeant-in-arms again warns senators not to speak as they sit in the Senate and listen to the trial. McConnell is introducing basic motions to move the trial forward. He has called for the trial to begin at 1 p.m. on Tuesday.

The Senate has adjourned until Tuesday at 1 p.m.

McConnell attacks Pelosi over pens

2:26 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: Senate Majority leader Mitch McConnell, R-Kentucky, slammed Speaker Pelosi Thursday for handing out commemorative pens – presented on a silver platter – and posing for photos Wednesday as they marked the signing of the articles of impeachment in the House. As the senators sign the oath book today, they are using the same pen.

Roberts is coming into the Senate and taking the oath

2:09 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: The chief justice is now in the Senate chamber and is taking the oath. Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is administering the oath. Grassley says "God bless you" after administering the oath to Roberts.

Roberts, in turn, administers the oath to the senators. They are coming forward in groups of four to sign the oath book.

Roll is being taken

2:03 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: A roll call is taking place to see if all the senators are present for the swearing-in.

Senators must put it in writing

1:58 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: Each of the 100 senators must step up to the front of the Senate floor and sign his or her name in a book attesting to the oath they take.

Roberts has arrived

1:54 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: Chief Justice Roberts is now at the Capitol and will soon be escorted to the Senate chamber to be sworn in. After he is sworn in, he will deliver the oath to the 100 senators.

Escorts appointed

12:22 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: The Senate has named four senators who will escort U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts into the Senate chamber this afternoon to be sworn in to preside over the impeachment trial.

The escorts are Sens. Roy Blunt, R-Missouri; Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina; Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont; Dianne Feinstein, D-California.

The Senate is in recess until 2 p.m. today.

The reading is over

12:20 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: After reading the articles of impeachment, the House managers are leaving the Senate chamber.

The House managers are in the Senate

12:07 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: The managers are in the Senate and are presenting the articles of impeachment. Rep. Adam Schiff, D-California, is reading the articles.

The House managers are on the way

12:03 p.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: The House managers are now walking toward the Senate chamber.

USMCA agreement passed

11:59 a.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: The United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement, a free trade agreement between the three countries, has just passed the Senate and will be sent on to the president for his signature.

What’s about to happen

11:53 a.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: In just a few minutes, the House managers will arrive at the doors of the U.S. Senate to present the articles of impeachment.

Once in the room, the Senate sergeant-at-arms will shout “Hear ye! Hear ye!” and will then warn senators to stay quiet saying, “All persons are commanded to keep silence, 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 of the United States.”

After that warning, one of the managers will read aloud the two articles of impeachment. Then, the managers will leave the Senate.

Pelosi on Barr: He is “implicated” in Ukrainian scheme

11:25 a.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a press conference Thursday that U.S. Attorney General William Barr is "implicated" in the events that led to Trump's impeachment.

Pelosi was asked if Rudy Giuliani associate Lev Parnas should be asked to testify about claims he made that Trump and others knew there was a scheme to keep funds and a White House meeting from Ukrainian officials until an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden was announced.

"Does anyone think that the rogue attorney general is going to appoint a special prosecutor? No, because he’s implicated in all of this,” Pelosi said of Barr.

Later, Pelosi said she was not sure if Barr was the “puppet or the puppet master” when it came to his relationship with Trump.

McSally: ‘You’re a liberal hack’

11 a.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: Sen. Martha McSally, R-Arizona, was asked a question early Thursday in the halls of Congress by a CNN reporter about whether new evidence should be presented at the Senate impeachment trial.

McSally dismissed reporter Manu Raju’s question, refusing to answer and calling him a “liberal hack.”

“You’re a liberal hack,” McSally said. “I’m not talking to you. You’re a liberal hack.”

She continued into a hearing room, according to a tweet about Raju about the exchange.

GAO ruling released

10:45 a.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: As the impeachment trial is set to begin, the Government Accountability Office has released an eight-page ruling on the withholding of funds to Ukraine, something that the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) did following Trump's July 25 phone conversation with Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky.

According to the GAO, the withholding of funds “for a policy reason” violated the law.

The OMB has argued that the administration has the authority to withhold foreign aid that has been appropriated by Congress for any reason. The GAO disagrees.

10:30 a.m. ET Jan. 16, 2020: Welcome to live updates from the Trump impeachment trial. In just a little while, the Senate will receive the articles of impeachment and the House of Representatives members who will act as prosecutors in the Senate trial.