As impeachment looms, US Senate and Trump grapple over their next moves

As the US House of Representatives moves closer to impeaching Donald Trump, larger questions loom in the Senate, where the president may be headed for a rare conflict with his Republican allies over how any trial will be conducted.

The House Judiciary Committee is due to meet at 7pm on Wednesday (12am GMT) to consider formal articles of impeachment accusing Trump of abusing his power by trying to force Ukraine to investigate a political rival and of obstructing Congress when lawmakers tried to look into the matter.

The committee is expected to approve the charges on Thursday. The full House, which is controlled by the Democrats, is likely to follow suit next week, making Trump the third president in US history to be impeached.

Trump, who maintains that he did nothing wrong, has said he wants to see a full, public trial that he hopes would flesh out the case against conviction when the charges are taken up by the Republican-controlled Senate in the new year. Trump has used the threat of impeachment to stir up his supporters and raise campaign funds in an election year.

Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer has also said he hopes for a “full” and “open” trial.