In this image from video, Sen Patrick Leahy, D-Vt, the president pro tempore of the Senate, who is presiding over the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump, swears in members of the Senate for the impeachment trial at the US Capitol in Washington, Jan 26, 2021. (PHOTO / SENATE TELEVISION VIA AP)

For the second time in a year, members of the US House of Representatives walked over to the Senate on Monday to deliver an article of impeachment against Donald Trump, now a former president.

Trump was first impeached in December 2019 by the House of Representatives, but survived a Senate trial

Speaking of the impeachment, US President Joe Biden said on Monday that he does not believe there will be enough votes to convict Trump at his trial, CNN reported.

The House charged Trump with "incitement of insurrection" over a speech preceding the storming of the US Capitol by his supporters on Jan 6, while Congress was in a joint session to confirm the Electoral College victory of Biden as president. Five people died in the chaos.

ALSO READ: US House set to bring Trump incitement charge to Senate

Nine House Democrats who will serve as prosecutors in the trial followed the clerk of the House and the acting sergeant-at-arms as they carried the written accusation through the Capitol Rotunda and to the Senate chamber late on Monday.

Trump's trial will start in the week beginning Feb 8.

Biden said he does not think 17 Republican senators will vote to convict Trump, the number necessary if all 50 Democrats vote for a conviction, according to CNN, which said it conducted a brief interview with Biden.

It also was announced on Monday that US Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont will preside over the trial. Leahy, 80, the longest-serving senator, also holds the title of president pro tempore of the Senate.

Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts, who presided over the first impeachment, will not do so on this one, reportedly over constitutional concerns about whether the chief justice should conduct the trial of a former president.

Leahy, a Democrat, also is expected to vote at the conclusion of the trial, which some Republicans questioned on Monday. He said he would take "extraordinarily seriously" his trial oath to administer "impartial justice".

"How does a Senator preside, like a judge, and serve as juror too?" Senator John Cornyn asked on Twitter.

Cornyn said Trump already has been held accountable. "One way in our system you get punished is losing an election," the senator said.

Divided chamber

The Senate is now evenly divided, 50-50, after two Democrats, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, won seats in a runoff election in Georgia this month. Vice-President Kamala Harris would vote in the event of a tie, which gives Democrats effective control of the chamber.

However, in the case of impeachment, a two-thirds majority of the Senate, or 67 votes, is needed for a conviction.

The mood from Republicans in the Senate is not as supportive of Trump as it was last year, but it would take 17 GOP senators to vote with the Democrats to convict Trump. It would take a separate vote to possibly bar Trump from holding public office again.

Trump was first impeached in December 2019 by the House of Representatives, but survived a Senate trial, after he was found to have pressured Ukraine to open an investigation into the business affairs of Biden's family.

"I guess it depends on what state you're in and what phase in your career you are," Senator Lindsey Graham, a Republican of South Carolina, told reporters on Monday when asked what would happen to Republicans who voted to convict Trump.

The two-week delay in the trial could benefit the former president, as it will be a little more than a month removed from the Capitol siege.

Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell, who had helped Trump navigate approval of federal judges, including for the Supreme Court, has harshly criticized the 45th president following the uprising in Washington.

McConnell's wife, Elaine Chao, resigned her Cabinet post as Trump's transportation secretary after the Capitol violence.

READ MORE: US House to deliver Trump impeachment to Senate Monday

Republicans are presenting legal arguments against the legitimacy of the trial and questions over whether Trump's demands to overturn the election amounted to incitement.

Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer said Republicans appear more eager to argue over the trial process than the substance of the impeachment case against Trump.

"There seems to be some hope that Republicans could oppose the former president's impeachment on process grounds, rather than grappling with his awful conduct," Schumer said. "Let me be perfectly clear: This is not going to fly.

"The theory that the Senate can't try former officials would amount to a constitutional get-out-of-jail-free card for any president," he told the Senate on Monday.

Agencies contributed to this story.