It just dawned on me. (Senate trial)

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18. it agree. not sure why you think i meant otherwise.

yes, the vice-president normally presides over the senate, but the chief justice presides over presidential impeachment trials.

i don't think i ever suggested otherwise; i certainly didn't mean to give that impression.

my point was simply that the vice-presidential role of presiding over the senate normally is a role that really doesn't carry much power in practice, to such a degree that vice-presidents often don't bother, preferring to spend their time elsewhere.

i was merely noting that this suggests that the chief justice "presiding" over a presidential impeachment trial is a similarly ceremonial role, not carrying much power.


the senate has the power to make the rules and such. to the extent that the senate wants to delegate their powers to the chief justice, that's possible, but it's not because roberts inherently has that power, it's only because the senate delegates its power to him, which they could revoke at any point.

it remains to be seen how the trial will play out. we have a very limited history of actual presidential impeachment trials. it is shaping up that both mcturtle and roberts are likely to do what they can to avoid making any consequential decisions.