The White House returned to its hands-off approach to the impeachment of former President Donald Trump, a day after President Biden said he did not believe Democrats had sufficient Senate votes to convict his predecessor.
His administration has avoided getting involved in the impeachment while Biden tries to rise above the political fray in pursuing his promise of unity.
That meant it fell to press secretary Jen Psaki to play cleanup during her daily briefing on Tuesday.
She said it remained his position that the Senate would follow their constitutional duties on impeachment while also working on other urgent matters.
“He’s going to allow them to move forward at the pace and manner that the leaders in the Senate determine, and I can promise you that we will leave the vote counting to leaders in the Senate,” she said.
Trump has been impeached by the House on a charge of inciting an insurrection, following the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
On Monday, Biden hinted that he believed the impeachment trial was doomed to fail. In an interview with CNN, he said the outcome might have been different if Trump still had six months left in office, but that he thought it unlikely 17 Republican senators, the number that would need to vote with Democrats, will vote to convict the former president.
“The Senate has changed since I was there, but it hasn’t changed that much,” he said.
The president’s repeatedly lukewarm references to impeachment have triggered questions about whether he is in step with other elements of his party’s leadership, who delivered articles of impeachment to the Senate on Monday.
Psaki sidestepped questions about his position.
“The president believes that the Senate has the constitutional duty to proceed as they see fit on holding the former president accountable,” she said.
“He spent 36 years in the senate. He’s no longer there. As the president of the United States, he feels his role is to deliver on what he promised for the American people.”
The impeachment trial is due to begin during the week of Feb. 8 after Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer agreed to a delay. That has given the Senate time to start work confirming Biden’s Cabinet picks.
