Washington DC – The second impeachment trial of former US president Donald Trump was set in motion on Monday after the US House of Representatives forwarded the article of impeachment to the Senate.

Carrying the charge of "incitement of insurrection," the article was read before the second chamber of Congress shortly after 7:00 p.m. on Monday.

Trump is facing an unprecedented second impeachment trial over the deadly storming of the Capitol by pro-Trump rioters on January 6.

The trial will also be the first faced by a president after leaving office.

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According to impeachment rules, the arrival of the article in the Senate formally triggers the start of the impeachment trial, but Senate leaders have agreed to modify the rules by delaying the actual start to the week of February 8.

The House impeached Trump for a second time after a violent mob of his supporters attacked the Capitol just after he used fiery rhetoric at a rally to promote baseless claims of election fraud.

The attack, which sought to halt lawmakers' certification of President Joe Biden's victory in the November election, left at least five people, including a police officer, dead.

In the Senate, a two-thirds majority is needed to convict. It is unclear how many Republicans might join the Democrats in such a vote, which could also bar Trump from holding office again.

President Biden has refrained from saying whether he wants to see Trump impeached or censured, and instead focused on signing executive orders to overturn Trump-era policies.

During a press briefing on Monday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that Biden will leave all matters of impeachment to members of the Senate.

"The President was in the Senate for 36 years, as you all know. He is no longer in the Senate, and he will leave it up to members of the Senate, Democrats and Republicans, to determine how they will hold the former president accountable," Psaki told reporters.

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The Democrats want to hold Trump to account for his supporters' attack on the Capitol and are hoping to conclude the process with a lifetime ban from federal office for Trump. Trump's term has already expired, however, and some Republicans contend that it is illegal to convict a former president.

Mitch McConnell, the leader of Senate Republicans, has left open the possibility of voting to convict Trump, which would mark a remarkable departure of one of the former president's most important Republican allies.

McConnell has already blamed Trump for inciting the mob.

Trump has faced impeachment proceedings before over his attempt to pressure Ukraine for personal political gains. That impeachment ended with an acquittal in the Senate in a virtual party-line vote.

A two-thirds majority of the senators present is needed for a conviction. The parties each hold 50 seats in the Senate, so 17 Republicans would also have to oppose Trump.