Senators will not be allowed to bring electronic devices onto the Senate floor for the duration of the impeachment trial, leaving the usually multitasking lawmakers bereft of cell phones and laptops for hours at a time over several weeks.
“We will not have our electronic devices,” Sen. John Cornyn, a Texas Republican, said Monday about the Senate impeachment trial of President Trump, which is set to begin on Jan. 21.
Cornyn said a cabinet has been installed off the Senate floor “where we will have to turn over our iPads and iPhones” before entering the chamber to serve as jurors in the impeachment trial of Trump on two charges related to the Ukraine military aide affair.
“This will just be us listening,” Cornyn said. “We don’t have a speaking role. We will be sitting here six days a week until we finish this process.”
Senators will be sitting silently. The rules governing the impeachment trial prohibit any of them from speaking. They’ll listen to House impeachment managers present their case, followed by defense arguments from White House lawyers. Senators then have a chance to submit written questions.
Senate rules call on all 100 senators to attend the trial, which is scheduled to take place Monday through Saturday each week until it is concluded.
The trial clashes with critical campaigning ahead of the Iowa caucuses and New Hampshire primary. Four Senators are running for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination: Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bernie Sanders of Vermont, and Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts.
Senators running for president won’t be able to check in with campaign staff or look at the latest polls or fundraising numbers while they are in the chamber phoneless.
“I imagine the last place they want to be is in Washington sitting in this chamber during an impeachment trial,” Cornyn said.
[Read more: House approves impeachment managers and ‘additional evidence’ for Senate trial]
