Mitch McConnell's calendar considerations

After a months-long investigation into whether President Donald Trump pressured Ukraine's president into investigating his political rivals in order to boost his reelection prospects in 2020, House Democrats brought two articles of impeachment against him, charging him with abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Click here for our GZERO guide to what comes next.

In the meantime, imagine for a moment that you are now Mitch McConnell, Senate Majority leader and senior member of Donald Trump's Republican Party. You've got big choices to make.

Once the House has impeached President Trump, you'll be the person who sets the timing of a Senate trial. And as it happens, this is the first impeachment trial in American history that will take place in an election year. That presents you with a unique opportunity.

If you wanted to, you could create real trouble for the Democratic Party's presidential candidates by scheduling the trial right before (and maybe during) those crucial first election contests.

Here's how.

The first Democratic nominating contest, the Iowa caucus, is set for February 3. The second, the New Hampshire primary, will take place on February 11.

Four of the major candidates for president—Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders, Amy Klobuchar, and Cory Booker—are senators who would have to be present in Washington during the impeachment trial. You can make political mischief by scheduling the trial to keep them off the campaign trail at a crucial moment.

Should you do it?

Polls suggest that President Trump's toughest Democratic opponent would be Joe Biden, who is not a senator and would be free to campaign wherever and whenever he wants. Biden leads in national polls, but is currently polling outside the top three in both Iowa and New Hampshire. No Democrat since the birth of the modern primary system in 1976 has won the party's presidential nomination without winning one of those first two states.

That is to say: if you make mischief for Democratic senators running for president by keeping them away from voters, you may rescue the campaign of the one Democrat that polls say is most likely to beat President Trump.

Your calendar is open, Senator McConnell – what would you like to do?

More from GZERO Media

Trump's silhouette as a wrecking ball banging into the Federal Reserve.
Gemini

President Trump has made no secret of his longstanding desire for lower interest rates to juice the economy and reduce the cost of servicing the $30 trillion federal debt.

The Nepalese government’s decision last week to ban several social platforms has touched off an ongoing wave of deadly unrest in the South Asian country of 30 million.

The Nepalese government’s decision last week to ban several social platforms has touched off an ongoing wave of deadly unrest in the South Asian country of 30 million.

General Wieslaw Kukula, chief of the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces, takes part in an extraordinary government cabinet meeting at the Chancellery of the Prime Minister, following violations of Polish airspace during a Russian attack on Ukraine in Warsaw, Poland, on September 10, 2025.
(Photo by Aleksander Kalka/NurPhoto

NATO jets last night shot down Russian drones that had entered Polish airspace. Poland said the unmanned aircraft had crossed the border en route to a strike on Ukraine.

U.S. President Donald Trump shakes hands with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, after an announcement of a trade deal between the U.S. and EU, in Turnberry, Scotland, Britain, July 27, 2025.
REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein/File Photo

100: In his ongoing, and so-far fruitless, efforts to convince Vladimir Putin to stop the war in Ukraine, Donald Trump reportedly asked the EU to apply 100% tariffs on India and China, the Kremlin’s most important trade partners.

Throughout his Walmart career, Greg has earned nine promotions, moving from an hourly associate to now overseeing 10 Walmart stores. His story is one of many. More than 75% of Walmart management started as hourly associates, and the retailer offers competitive benefits to support associates on and off the clock. At Walmart, there is a path for everyone. Learn how Walmart is investing in opportunities for associates at all levels.

This summer, Microsoft released the 2025 Responsible AI Transparency Report, demonstrating Microsoft’s sustained commitment to earning trust at a pace that matches AI innovation. The report outlines new developments in how we build and deploy AI systems responsibly, how we support our customers, and how we learn, evolve, and grow. It highlights our strengthened incident response processes, enhanced risk assessments and mitigations, and proactive regulatory alignment. It also covers new tools and practices we offer our customers to support their AI risk governance efforts, as well as how we work with stakeholders around the world to work towards governance approaches that build trust. You can read the report here.