Senate split as clock to Clinton trial ticks down

What happens after Thursday 8212; when Chief Justice William Rehnquist swears in the body8217;s 55 Republicans and 45 Democrats as jurors 8212; is still anyone8217;s guess.

But the tentative plan would feature opening arguments ending with a test vote8217; on whether Clinton8217;s alleged offences in the Monica Lewinsky flap 8212; perjury and obstruction of justice 8212; warrant his removal from office.

If that ballot fails to win support from a two-thirds majority 8212; the number of votes needed to oust Clinton 8212; then lawmakers could adjourn the trial and consider formally rebuking him.

And with Republicans unable to oust Clinton by a mere party-line vote, most Senators have said Clinton8217;s removal is an extremely unlikely scenario.

Bipartisan support 8212; including key backing from Republican Senate majority leader Trent Lott 8212; has built for the plan, largely because the votes needed to oust Clinton are unlikely to materialise.

And Clinton8217;s soaring popularity ratings 8212; respondents to a recent poll declared him the most admired man in America, ahead of Pope John Paul II 8212; have also given senators pause.

But the proposal plays poorly among conservatives who want more consideration of the charges against Clinton that the House approved just over two weeks ago.

8220;I would be very sceptical of bypassing what I think is our constitutional responsibility to have a full airing of the evidence,8221; Republican Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison of Texas told CBS television on Sunday.

Senators could be trampling on the US Constitution if they voted to end the proceeding without undertaking a genuine trial, warned Republican Senator Phil Gramm, also of Texas.

8220;Seems to me, we8217;re too preoccupied with what is good politics for senators, and not enough preoccupied with what we should do to fulfill the constitutional process,8221; he said on NBC television on Sunday.

But those comments came as a large number of Democrats and an as-yet unknown number of Republicans back the option calling for opening the trial and swiftly concluding it.

Under a proposal from Democratic Senator Joseph Lieberman and his Republican colleague Slade Gorton, Senators would be sworn in this week.

The 13 House-appointed managers8217; who will act as prosecutors in the trial would then have Monday, January 11, to make their case, with the White House making its day-long defence on Tuesday.

Senators would then have one day, Wednesday, to ask questions of both sides. No witnesses would be called, and on Thursday the Senate would vote on whether the charges 8212; even if proven 8212; rise to a level warranting Clinton8217;s ouster.

The Senate would adjourn the trial and begin considering censure 8212; a formal rebuke of Clinton 8212; if the 67 votes needed to oust the President aren8217;t there.

Meanwhile, a handful of Democrats oppose even opening a trial on the grounds that, even if true, the allegations against Clinton do not meet the criteria for ousting the President.