10 House Republicans voted to impeach Trump

Yahoo Finasnce's Jessica Smih joined Yahoo FInance Live to break down the latest impeachment news from Washington, D.C. as politicians grapple over the Trump's second impeachment hearing.

Video Transcript

ADAM SHAPIRO: We're going to turn our attention to Washington, DC, and, of course, the historic vote yesterday regarding impeachment. So much more on the table. Let's get an update from Jessica Smith, who's going to brief us on the latest and what happens next, regarding impeachment. Jessica.

JESSICA SMITH: Yeah, Adam, all eyes are on the Senate now to see if enough Republicans will vote to convict the president. We saw 10 Republicans, yesterday in the House, vote to impeach, including the number three Republican, Liz Cheney. She's now facing calls from some in her party that she should step down from her leadership role.

But it's not clear at this point if there will be enough Republicans in the Senate who will vote for conviction. You need at least 17. Majority leader Mitch McConnell told his colleagues yesterday that he was still making up his mind. And the fact that he is considering conviction is significant.

And in just the past few minutes, we did hear from Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski. She said in a statement that she believes the president did incite violence that led to injury and death, and the House was right to impeach. But she did not say how she would vote during the Senate trial. So that will be someone else to watch.

We're also waiting to hear what the timeline is going to be. At this point, we know the earliest it could start is January 19, because Majority Leader McConnell has said he's not calling the Senate back early. It could even happen-- it could even start on Inauguration Day. So it looks like in the very first days of a Biden presidency there will be a Senate trial going on.

We've talked over the past few days about concerns that would really hold back the Biden administration. It would slow down his nominees' confirmations. And President-elect Biden addressed those concerns yesterday. After the House vote, he said in a statement, "this nation also remains in the grip of a deadly virus and a reeling economy. I hope that the Senate leadership will find a way to deal with their Constitutional responsibilities on Impeachment while also working on other urgent business of this nation."

Of course, that urgent business includes another coronavirus aid package, Adam and Seana. Biden is expected to roll out his plan for more coronavirus relief later this evening.

SEANA SMITH: And Jess, speaking of that, any idea of what's expected to be included at this point, in the plan?

JESSICA SMITH: Well, Biden hinted at what he was going to have in the next package. When he was talking to reporters last week, he said it would be in the trillions of dollars. He said it would include an increase in stimulus checks. He wants to see those checks go up to $2,000. He said the $600 was not enough. He also talked about the need for state and local funding, money for schools, small businesses, and state and local governments.

And he said a priority through all of this, all of these relief efforts, will be targeting minority communities to make sure the hardest hit communities get the help they need. He'll also talk tonight about vaccine distribution. He's called it the greatest operational challenge of our time.

So he'll lay out more details of his plan on how he's going to get people in America vaccinated. That speech is happening at 7:15. So we'll be sure to keep you updated on everything he has to say.

ADAM SHAPIRO: Jessica, thank you very much.