The Senate shall have the sole Power to try all Impeachments. When sitting for that
Purpose, they shall be on Oath or Affirmation. When the President of the United States is
tried, the Chief Justice shall preside: And no Person shall be convicted without the
Concurrence of two thirds of the Members present.
These are the rules set forth by our founders. No Chief-Justice, no valid
Edit: I suspect they are doing this because their constitutional scholar teams are telling them they can't convict a former president in an impeachment trial, so they are saying "fuck it, if it's not valid, let's have someone that's already convinced he's a guilty traitor preside instead of the Chief Justice".
For real
These are the rules set forth by our founders. No Chief-Justice, no valid
Edit: I suspect they are doing this because their constitutional scholar teams are telling them they can't convict a former president in an impeachment trial, so they are saying "fuck it, if it's not valid, let's have someone that's already convinced he's a guilty traitor preside instead of the Chief Justice".
The way it was explained is that since GEOTUS is not currently the sitting POTUS, the CJ is not required to preside.