Ron Klain, President-elect Joe Biden’s incoming White House chief of staff, hopes President Trump’s impeachment Senate trial will be swift.
On Friday, Klain echoed his boss, urging the Senate to balance its constitutional responsibilities to conduct Trump’s impeachment trial with its duty to move on legislation that could help the public deal with the coronavirus pandemic. The House this week passed an article of impeachment charging the president with inciting an insurrection.
“Hopefully, the trial will not be a lengthy trial,” Klain told the Washington Post during a live event.
Depending on the timeline for Trump’s trial, senators may have to juggle their role as jurors with Biden’s push for a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 health and economic rescue package.
Klain insisted on Friday that it was “realistic” for the proposal to earn bipartisan support, despite the difficulties Congress experienced last year on agreeing with the White House on a second relief proposal.
Biden’s “frequent contact” with outgoing Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell may ease negotiations on “areas where they can work together,” according to Klain.
“It’s a big number, there’s no question about it, but we have two big crises in this country. We spent the last year largely underdoing the response,” he said. “The greater danger is not going big enough.”
Klain declined to preview Biden’s inaugural address, which Biden will deliver next Wednesday. Klain joked that he would be “the shortest-lived chief of staff in White House history” if he discussed the speech because its contents were “a closely held secret.” However, Klain did disclose that Biden had been drafting an outline since the start of his transition.
“Everyone knows what Joe Biden stands for. Everyone knows what Joe Biden’s campaign is about,” he said.
A dress rehearsal for Biden’s inauguration was postponed by security concerns after last week’s U.S. Capitol attack. Less than a week before Biden’s swearing-in, Klain said the “extraordinary efforts” the team was taking were both “prudent and wise.”
