The U.S. Supreme Court expects "business as usual" despite dispatching Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. to the U.S. Senate as the presiding officer over the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump.

Roberts will wear his black judicial robe—the same one he wears for oral arguments—when he travels across the street at 2 p.m. Thursday to take the oath promising to do impartial justice, a court spokesperson said Thursday. Roberts could make a brief statement similar to that made by Chief Justice William Rehnquist in the 1999 impeachment of President Bill Clinton, and then administer the oath to the senators.

The court staff has been coordinating with Senate Parliamentarian Elizabeth MacDonough and the office of the Senate Sergeant at Arms on logistics and the chief justice's role.

"I've been here with many, many parliamentarians. All were good. But she's the best," Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vermont, told Politico. Sen. John Cornyn, Republican of Texas, said of MacDonough: "She calls them straight down the middle."

Impeachment proceedings next week are expected to start daily in the afternoon. Roberts will hear court arguments in the morning—the court is sitting Tuesday and Wednesday—and head to the Senate when those hearings are over. If he must leave arguments before they conclude, the chief justice likely will participate in cases through the briefs and argument transcripts. If he is absent during court arguments, Senior Associate Justice Clarence Thomas would preside.

Jeffrey Minear Jeffrey Minear, counselor to Chief Justice John Roberts Jr. Photo: Diego M. Radzinschi / ALM

When he is in the Senate proceedings, Roberts will be assisted by the counselor to the chief justice Jeffrey Minear and other court staff as well as one of his law clerks. Minear has served as counselor to the chief justice since 2006. He has argued 56 cases before the high court, having served earlier in the Justice Department's office of the solicitor general from 1985 to 1998.

Rehnquist was similarly assisted during the Clinton trial. As Rehnquist did, Roberts will have access to the ceremonial President's Room in the Senate where he and his staff can continue the court's work.

In preparation for the trial, the chief justice has reviewed Senate rules and past proceedings, the Supreme Court spokesperson said Thursday.