Politico: “The hearing, scheduled for Feb. 22 and 23, sets Garland up for a March 1 vote out of committee and comes after Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley (R-IA) reached an agreement for the schedule.”

Playbook: “If the compelling presentations of the managers — and shoddy work by Trump’s – weren’t enough to move the GOP senators Tuesday, it’s not going to happen.”

The Louisiana Republican party quickly rebuked Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-LA), saying it is “profoundly disappointed” he backed the the constitutionality of Donald Trump’s impeachment trial.

From a statement: “We feel that an impeachment trial of a private citizen is not only an unconstitutional act, but also an attack on the very foundation of American democracy.”

Playbook: “It’s not easy for any Republican to cross Trump, let alone one from a deep-red Southern state. Cassidy shocked the chamber — and his constituents — when he did just that, joining five other Senate Republicans to say the proceedings were in fact constitutional.”

“Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is signaling to fellow Republicans that the final vote on Donald Trump‘s impeachment is matter of conscience and that senators who disputed the constitutionality of the trial could still vote to convict the former president,” Bloomberg reports.

“The Kentucky Republican has also suggested that he hasn’t made up his mind how he’ll vote, even though he voted Tuesday to declare it unconstitutional for the Senate to hear the case against a former president.”

New York Times: “Mr. Castor, the first to speak, delivered a rambling, almost somnambulant defense of the former president for nearly an hour. Mr. Trump, who often leaves the television on in the background even when he is holding meetings, was furious.”

“On a scale of one to 10, with 10 being the angriest, Mr. Trump ‘was an eight,’ one person familiar with his reaction said.”

“And while he was heartened that his other lawyer, Mr. Schoen, gave a more spirited performance, Mr. Trump ended the day frustrated and irate.”

“For former President Donald Trump, the opening day of his second impeachment trial did not go as planned or to his liking,” Politico reports.

“Cocooned at his Mar-a-Lago estate, Trump watched as his defense attorneys responded to an emotional presentation by House impeachment managers with a series of dry, technical and at times meandering arguments about due process and the constitutionality of the proceedings. As they droned on, he grew increasingly frustrated with the sharp contrast between their muted response and the prosecution’s opening salvo.”

CBS News: GOP senators baffled by Trump’s lawyers after first day of trial.

Alan Dershowitz, who served on former President Trump’s impeachment defense team during last year’s trial, blasted attorney Bruce Castor for his opening remarks during today’s impeachment proceedings, telling Newsmax: “There is no argument. I have no idea what he’s doing. I have no idea why he’s saying.”

Jonathan Chait: Trump’s lawyer rambles through hilariously incoherent impeachment defense.

The following Republican senators voted with every Democrat: Susan Collins, Bill Cassidy, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey.

Cassidy had previously voted “no” when this question was put to the Senate two weeks ago.

Trump lawyer Bruce Castor bizarrely seemed to suggest Donald Trump should be arrested if the allegations at the heart of the impeachment trial are true.

Said Castor: “A high crime is a felony, and a misdemeanor is a misdemeanor. After he’s out of office, you go and arrest him… The department of justice does know what to do with such people. And so far, I haven’t seen any activity in that direction.”

“A constitutional law professor whose work is cited extensively by former President Donald Trump’s lawyers in their impeachment defense brief says his work has been seriously misrepresented,” NPR reports.

Said Michigan State University professor Brian Kalt: “The worst part is the three places where they said I said something when, in fact, I said the opposite.”

In case you missed it, the video timeline of the January 6 insurrection as presented by the House impeachment managers at former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial is devastating.

Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-MD) after the video: “You ask what a high crime and misdemeanor is under our Constitution? That’s a high crime and misdemeanor. If that is not an impeachable offense, then there is no such thing.”

The U.S. Senate has convened to hear the impeachment case presented by House Democrats that former President Donald Trump incited an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on January 6 in an attempt to disrupt the counting of electoral votes from the 2020 presidential election.

Leave your reactions in the comments.

“Prosecutors in former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial will present new evidence, and will show that he spent weeks laying the groundwork for the Jan. 6 Capitol riot and that he also ‘incited it further’ once the violence began,” CNBC reports.

Said one House aide: “The evidence of Trump’s guilt in this case is overwhelming.”

Washington Post: Trump’s lawyers say he was immediately “horrified” by the Capitol attack. Here’s what his allies and aides said really happened that day.

“The House Democrats prosecuting Donald Trump’s impeachment will mount arguments akin to a ‘violent crime’ case, constructing a ‘succinct’ narrative of the Jan. 6 insurrection that begins weeks earlier as the former president mounted a campaign to delegitimize his 2020 election defeat,” Politico reports.

“The aides, speaking on condition of anonymity to describe mechanics of the Senate’s trial, emphasized that they intend to present a visually gripping version of events that draws on the personal experiences that will resonate with many of the lawmakers who fled the violent insurrectionists.”

Earlier for members: What to Watch For In Trump’s Impeachment Trial

Ron Brownstein: “The quick turn by Biden and congressional Democrats toward reliance on the special ‘reconciliation’ procedure for passing their Covid-19 ‘rescue’ package with only 51 Senate votes underscores their conviction that in today’s highly polarized environment, they are unlikely to secure support for anything close to their plan from 10 Senate Republicans, the number they would need to break a GOP filibuster.”

“Yet by relying on the reconciliation process to pass that priority, Democrats may only raise more questions about whether they should sustain other venerable Senate procedures — including the filibuster and deference to home state senators on judicial nominations — that impede majority rule and provide the minority a virtual veto on many fronts.”

“Though the Senate has trimmed back rules that empower the minority party to block the majority, it has not completely eliminated procedures such as the filibuster, which requires 60 votes to pass most legislation, or the ‘blue slip’ system that has allowed senators from the opposite party to veto judicial nominations in their home states.”