Biden shares these concerns, according to three advisers. While he is publicly deferring to Congress, he knows Democrats’ efforts are highly unlikely to remove Trump from office early, does not want to distract from his legislative agenda and prefers to stay above the fray as he seeks to unify the country, the advisers say.

“He’s indicated, I think rather clearly, that he doesn’t see any great value in it, in that the Senate is never going to convict,” says former Connecticut Senator Chris Dodd, a longtime Biden adviser. Dodd thinks an impeachment push at this moment would rally the GOP around Trump. “Engaging in a futile effort at this juncture could play into his predictable hands and would be the subject of all the major news and conversation for the next 10 days,” Dodd says. “We ought to be talking about Joe Biden and his new Administration and what it means for people here and abroad.”…

Without even mentioning impeachment, Biden has said that he wants Congress to “hit the ground running” on legislation mitigating the health and economic crises paralyzing the country. “When Kamala [Harris] and I are sworn in, we are going to be introducing immediately significant pieces of legislation to deal with the virus, deal with the economy, and deal with economic growth,” he said Friday, in his first public remarks on the subject. “We’re going to do our job and Congress can decide how to proceed with theirs.”