The latest on the Biden presidency and Trump impeachment trial

President Joe Biden just signed an executive order to reverse a Trump-era ban on transgender individuals serving in the military.

The move, one of Biden’s key 2020 campaign promises, came during a meeting with Vice President Kamala Harris, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Mark Milley, and Defense Sec. Lloyd Austin, the nation’s first Black secretary of defense. Harris, Milley, and Austin flanked Biden with social distancing, each wearing a mask.

The executive action revokes Trump’s 2018 presidential memorandum and also confirms the revocation of the presidential memorandum of August 25, 2017.

Before signing the order, he thanked Harris and Milley for their “great, great help,” as well as Austin.

The executive order “sets the policy that all Americans who are qualified to serve in the Armed Forces of the United States should be able to serve,” per the White House.

Some background on the ban: The policy, which has been roundly derided by LGBTQ activists as cruel and irrational, was first announced by Trump in July 2017 via Twitter. The ban specifically blocks individuals who have been diagnosed with a condition known as gender dysphoria from serving with limited exceptions.

It also specifies that individuals without the condition can serve, but only if they do so according to the sex they were assigned at birth.

While Trump had argued that transgender troops in the military would lead to "tremendous medical costs and disruption," a 2016 Rand Corp. study commissioned by the Defense Department concluded that letting transgender people serve openly would have a "minimal impact" on readiness and health care costs.

Hear what Biden said before signing the order:

Sen. Patrick Leahy, a Democrat from Vermont and the President pro tempore of the Senate, is expected to preside in the impeachment trial, according to two sources familiar with the matter, not Chief Justice John Roberts.

Senators preside when the person facing trial isn't the current president of the United States, one source said. 

The article of impeachment against President Trump will be delivered around 7 p.m. ET today when House managers walk it over to the Senate chamber. The Senate trial is set to begin Feb. 9.

Department of Justice Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz on Monday announced that the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) is initiating “an investigation into whether any former or current DOJ official engaged in an improper attempt to have DOJ seek to alter the outcome of the 2020 Presidential Election,” according to a release.

The Office of the Inspector General said they were making this statement, consistent with DOJ policy, "to reassure the public that an appropriate agency is investigating the allegations."

The probe comes on the heels of reports last week from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal that former President Donald Trump attempted to use his Justice Department to challenge the election results, an effort that included the possibility of Trump ousting then-acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen.

The Times said in a report published Friday that Jeffrey Clark, a lawyer for the DOJ, nearly convinced Trump earlier this month to remove Rosen and use the department to undo Georgia's election results.

Clark  — who appealed to the former President's false claims of election fraud  — met with Trump earlier in January and told Rosen following the meeting that the then-President was going to replace him with Clark. Clark would then move to keep Congress from certifying the election results in Biden's favor, according to the paper.

Rosen demanded to hear the news straight from Trump, the Times said, and arranged a meeting on the evening of Jan. 3  — the same day that Trump's call with Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, in which Trump pressured the state official to find enough votes for him to win Georgia, came to light.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer called for Horowitz to launch a probe on Saturday, writing in a tweet that it was "unconscionable a Trump Justice Department leader would conspire to subvert the people's will."

Less than a week into his new administration, President Biden's promise of restoring bipartisanship is going to face even more hurdles as Republicans are signaling they have little interest in taking up his first legislative priority: another massive Covid-19 relief bill.

Multiple aides CNN spoke with made it clear that Sunday's call between a group of bipartisan senators and National Economic Council Director Brian Deese, Jeff Zients and Louisa Terrell was a good first step, but there is still broad disagreement about the overall price tag of this stimulus package and what's actually needed.

Everyone acknowledges more money for testing and vaccines is essential. But a $15 minimum wage? Billions in state and local funding? $1,400 stimulus checks? Multiple aides told CNN that senators on both sides argued they needed more data as to why nearly $2 trillion was the right choice.

They just passed a more than $900 billion package a month ago. One Republican aide told CNN that it wasn't just Republicans balking at that number, but that some of the Democrats on the call were also "cool" on spending so much. Checks, they argued, needed to be more targeted. If a fight over a stimulus bill's price tag sounds familiar, it's because it is. The cost of last stimulus plan bedeviled Republicans and Democrats for six months the last time Congress attempted this.

All you need to know: After the meeting, Sen. Susan Collins, a Republican from Maine who is broadly viewed as one of the most "gettable" Republican senators are on this package released a statement to CNN saying "It seems premature to be considering a package of this size and scope."

In other words: If Biden and his team want this to be done quickly, they might have to pull the plug on their goal of getting 10 Republicans to sign on and move (AKA as soon as the next week or two) to the next step: a procedural budget maneuver that would only require 51 votes.

President Biden begins his first full week in office today, and is preparing to sign another round of executive actions aimed at targeting key priorities of his administration and further undo the policies of former President Trump.

Here's a look at key events that will be open to the press today:

The Senate will in the coming weeks begin an impeachment trial to decide whether to convict former President Trump for inciting an insurrection at the Capitol, but Democrats will have time before it gets underway to confirm more Cabinet nominees to help the Biden administration get up and running.

The House will send the article of impeachment to the Senate today. That would typically trigger a process for a trial to start the next day, but Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer announced Friday evening that instead the trial will begin the week of February 8.

Here are key things to know about where things stand in the trial:

The White House is expected to repeal former President Trump's ban on transgender individuals serving in the military as early as Monday, according to a source familiar with the plans.

The policy, which has been roundly derided by LGBTQ activists as cruel and irrational, was first announced by Trump in July 2017 via Twitter. The ban specifically blocks people who have been diagnosed with a condition known as gender dysphoria from serving with limited exceptions. It also specifies that people without the condition can serve, but only if they do so according to the sex they were assigned at birth.

The White House declined to comment on the plans. White House press secretary Jen Psaki had said in a statement last week that the administration would lift the ban through an executive action in the early days or weeks of Biden's presidency.

CBS News was first to report the expected repeal coming Monday.

Biden is set to meet with Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, who was confirmed Friday, at the White House this morning alongside the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Some more background on the ban: While Trump had argued that transgender troops in the military would lead to "tremendous medical costs and disruption," a 2016 Rand Corp. study commissioned by the Defense Department concluded that letting transgender people serve openly would have a "minimal impact" on readiness and health care costs.

Trump's decision reversed a policy initially approved by the Defense Department under former President Barack Obama, which was still under final review, that would have allowed transgender individuals to openly serve in the military.

The Trump administration for years had reversed, dropped, removed and withdrawn established LGBTQ protections and had been particularly hostile toward transgender Americans.

President Biden is planning a new wave of executive orders and actions this week as he looks to further dismantle many of former President Donald Trump's policies and address a slate of Democratic priorities as quickly as he can.

The planned moves, which were outlined in a draft calendar document viewed by CNN, allow Biden to set his agenda into motion while his administration continues the plodding work of coordinating with Congress on more ambitious policy goals, like a new Covid-19 relief package.

While the orders and timing are subject to change, here's a rundown of the executive steps Biden is expected to take this week:

Monday

Billed as "Buy American" day, Biden is expected to sign one executive order directing agencies to "strengthen requirements for procuring goods and services from sources that will support US businesses and workers."

Tuesday

Tuesday focuses on equity, with a list of executive orders that will:

Biden also plans to sign a memorandum directing Housing and Urban Development to take steps to promote equitable housing politics.

Wednesday

The climate crisis will come into view on Wednesday with an executive order initiating regulatory actions to "combat climate change domestically and elevates climate change as a national security priority," along with the re-establishment of the President's Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.

Biden is also due to sign a a memorandum on scientific integrity.

Thursday

Health care is set be the the theme on Thursday with Biden set to rescind the Mexico City Policy and review the Title X Domestic Gag Rule. There may also be an executive action on Medicaid, as well as the initiation of open enrollment under the Affordable Care Act.

Friday

Finally, Biden is expected to center on immigration on Friday with executive orders on regional migration and border processing, the US refugee policy and the establishment of a family reunification task force, as well as an executive order directing immediate review of the Public Charge Rule.

Read more here.

The second Senate impeachment trial of former President Trump is scheduled to begin on Feb. 9 after Senate leaders reached a deal to push it back, giving Trump's legal team more time to prepare and Senate Democrats a chance to consider Covid-19 legislation and to confirm President Joe Biden's Cabinet.

House Democrats will formally walk over the single article of impeachment against Trump to the Senate on today, but the agreement between Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell will push back the substance of the trial until February. Without an agreement, the trial would have started the afternoon after the article was transmitted to the Senate.

Under the agreement, the ceremonial functions of the trial will occur this week, with the articles being presented on Monday and senators being sworn in as jurors on Tuesday. Then the trial will pause, while the House impeachment managers and Trump's legal team exchange pre-trial briefs for two weeks. The final briefs would be due on Feb. 9, allowing the trial itself to begin.

A delay to the impeachment trial also makes sense for Democrats because the trial had threatened to stall the confirmation of Biden's Cabinet, as well as put a stop to any consideration of another Covid stimulus package, as Senate Republicans said Friday they would not allow the Senate to confirm nominees at the same time the trial is going on.

The trial's timing had been one of several logistical hurdles the Senate is tackling amid broader negotiations between Schumer and McConnell over how the 50-50 Senate will be governed.

Some more background: McConnell had proposed delaying the trial until early February, arguing that Trump's legal team should be given ample time to prepare after the House's swift impeachment of Trump for "incitement of insurrection" earlier this month.

The timeline Schumer announced Friday evening is one week earlier that what McConnell had proposed, but the Kentucky Republican's team praised the agreement Friday. "This is a win for due process and fairness," said McConnell spokesperson Doug Andres.