Under those rules, the Chief Justice of the United States is brought to the Senate to preside and rule on legal questions. The case follows a similar path as in the House, and Senate Judiciary Chairman Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, expects his committee to review any articles of impeachment should the House vote them. The trial is held in the Senate itself, with the president and his counsel sitting at a table in the well normally used by Senate clerks, and members of the House Judiciary Committee sitting at another table, acting as the prosecution. The chief justice administers an oath to senators swearing them in as jurors during the trial process, and asks questions of the president, which senators submit in writing but do not ask themselves. The Senate can vote to go into secret session, but all motions are made by roll call vote.
Senators can ask to be disqualified.
A controversial issue resolved in earlier impeachment trial involves whether senators with conflicts of interests can vote. President Johnson's potential successor was the Senate's senior president pro tempore, Sen. Benjamin Wade Jr., R-Ohio, because the office of vice president was still vacant at the time. But after a debate, Wade was allowed to vote. So was Johnson's son-inlaw, Sen. David Patterson, DTenn. The process can last months.