Trump announces new impeachment legal team

Kentucky Republican Sen. Rand Paul will force a vote in the Senate on the question of whether holding an impeachment trial for former President Donald Trump after he has left office is constitutional, he announced on the Senate floor Tuesday.

The afternoon vote forces Republicans to go on the record regarding how they might vote in Trump's trial.

Paul called the impeachment effort a "travesty," a "kangaroo court" and a "partisan exercise designed to further divide the country" during a floor speech announcing his intention to call the point of order -- in which a senator can argue that the chamber is not operating according to its rules.

"Hyper-partisan Democrats are about to drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol the likes of which has never been seen in our nation's history," Paul said.

He took issue with Democrats impeaching Trump, in large part, over his speech prior to the riot on Jan. 6. He cited examples of Democrats using similar language in floor speeches supporting bail funds for Minnesota protestors during George Floyd demonstrations over the summer. 

"A shame this is -- a travesty -- a dark blot in the history of our country," Paul said, urging colleagues to "move forward to debate the great issues of our day."

Wisconsin Republican Ron Johnson also rose to support Paul's effort -- and by default, the former president.

He said he wanted his collegaues to consider "not the constitutionality or unconstitutionality of that -- I want them to consider is it wise."

"Will the trial of a former president, of a private citizen, will it heal? Will it unify? I think the answer is clearly it will not," Johnson said.

-ABC News' Allison Pecorin

The Senate has voted to confirm Antony Blinken as secretary of state by a 78-22 vote.

Blinken has advised Biden on foreign policy for almost two decades. Previously, he served as deputy secretary of state in the Obama-Biden administration. When serving in his capacity as national security adviser to Biden, he was present in the Situation Room during the Osama bin Laden raid, as captured by a famous photograph. Blinken was also a top staffer on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee when then-senator Biden was its chair.

As the country's top diplomat, Blinken is expected to play a pivotal role in the Biden administration's efforts to rebuild alliances and reenter international agreements like the Iran nuclear deal and the Paris Climate Agreement.

He is Biden's fourth Cabinet confirmation following Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

-ABC News' Conor Finnegan

Vice President Kamala Harris -- the nation's first woman vice president -- has ceremonially sworn-in Janet Yellen -- the first woman to lead the Treasury Department in its more than 230-year history.

Yellen was sworn in outside the East side of the White House facing the Department of Treasury. She is now the first person have the distinction of serving as treasury secretary, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers and chair of the Federal Reserve.

She was confirmed by the Senate in a vote of 84 to 15 on Monday evening.

Yellen was joined by her husband, George Akerlof, and son, Robert, for Tuesday's ceremony.

-ABC News' Beatrice Peterson

Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Tuesday will make a point of order to dismiss former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial in the Senate, forcing Republicans to go on the record, indicating how they might vote in a trial.

Asked by Capitol Hill reporters Monday if he would force a vote on the trial's constitutionality, Paul said, "Yes."

Then asked if he has an idea of how many of his Republican colleagues are going to support him, Paul said, "I think it'll be enough to show that you know more than a third of the Senate thinks that the whole proceeding is unconstitutional -- which will show that ultimately they don't have the votes to do an impeachment."

-ABC News' Trish Turner and Allison Pecorin