Senators are preparing to take the reins of the impeachment trial on Wednesday after largely being relegated to the sidelines of the floor proceedings in the first week.

After six days of opening statements from House managers and President Trump Donald John TrumpBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll Trump dismisses climate change role in fires, says Newsom needs to manage forest better Jimmy Kimmel hits Trump for rallies while hosting Emmy Awards MORE's team, senators will start asking questions of both sides at 1 p.m. on Wednesday.

The question-and-answer session is expected to be stretched over two days, with senators getting a total of 16 hours to ask questions, before moving to a vote on Friday on whether to call witnesses.

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Under a deal announced by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellOcasio-Cortez to voters: Tell McConnell 'he is playing with fire' with Ginsburg's seat McConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Video shows NYC subway station renamed after Ruth Bader Ginsburg MORE (R-Ky.), questions will alternate between Republicans and Democrats. Wednesday's session is expected to last eight hours, not including breaks.

McConnell also doled out advice to both senators asking their questions as well as to House managers and Trump's team for how to answer them: Get to the point.

"During the question period of the Clinton trial, senators were thoughtful and brief with their questions, and the managers and counsel were succinct in their answers. I hope we can follow both of these examples during this time," McConnell said Tuesday.

Senators aren't allowed to speak during the trial. Instead, they are submitting their questions in writing. The questions will first be fielded through leadership on both sides, who have said their main object is to weed out duplicates or repetitive questions.

The questions will then be passed, alternating between parties, to Chief Justice John Roberts, who is presiding over the trial.

Roberts will read out the question, which side it is addressed to and which senators submitted it. When duplicative questions are merged, Roberts is expected to read out the name of each senator who originally submitted the questions.

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"Questions can be directed to House managers or the president’s counsel. Senators can’t ask each other questions," a GOP aide added, outlining how the proceeding will go.

Senators and aides said they expected House Democrats and Trump’s team to take up to five minutes to respond per question — the same amount of time as during the Clinton trial. But that limit wasn’t strictly enforced in 1999.

Roberts referenced then-Chief Justice William Rehnquist laying out the five-minute limit on Tuesday, indicating that he would like to enforce the same standard.

“The [1999] transcript indicates this was met with ‘laughter,’ ” he said, prompting laughter from the senators in the chamber on Tuesday. “Nonetheless, managers and counsel generally limited their responses accordingly. I think the late chief's time limit was a good one and would ask both sides to abide by it.”

The marathon session will likely involve plenty of tea leaf reading as leadership, their colleagues and reporters all keep a close eye on Republican senators including Sens. Susan Collins Susan Margaret CollinsMcConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Most Americans think winner of election should pick next Supreme Court justice: poll Murkowski: Supreme Court nominee should not be taken up before election MORE (Maine), Lisa Murkowski Lisa Ann MurkowskiMcConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Most Americans think winner of election should pick next Supreme Court justice: poll Murkowski: Supreme Court nominee should not be taken up before election MORE (Alaska) and Mitt Romney Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyGOP set to release controversial Biden report McConnell locks down key GOP votes in Supreme Court fight Will Republicans' rank hypocrisy hinder their rush to replace Ginsburg? MORE (Utah), who are each viewed as swing votes on whether or not to call witnesses.

“I’ve already compiled a great number of them. I’ve got to winnow down my list,” Collins said during an interview with CBS News, referring to potential witnesses.

Collins and then-Sen. Russ Feingold (D-Wis.) submitted the only bipartisan question during the Clinton impeachment trial.

Questions from Democratic Sens. Joe Manchin Joseph (Joe) ManchinNames to watch as Trump picks Ginsburg replacement on Supreme Court Momentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day Gardner on court vacancy: Country needs to mourn Ginsburg 'before the politics begin' MORE (W.Va.), Doug Jones (Ala.) and Kyrsten Sinema (Ariz.) will be under close scrutiny, with the three Democrats viewed as potential swing votes on whether or not to convict or acquit Trump.

Manchin and Jones have described themselves as undecided on Trump's removal, while Sinema, who does not do hallway interviews in the Capitol, has pledged to keep an open mind during the impeachment proceedings.

Jones and Manchin have said they are working with staff and preparing to ask questions, with Jones telling reporters he would “try to pare them down.”

“You know, there’s 100 of us [and] everybody’s got questions, so we’ll see how it goes,” he said.

It could also give senators in both parties the chance to poke holes in the case presented by House Democrats and Trump’s legal team, or to try to fill in gaps from the opening arguments.

Sen. Josh Hawley Joshua (Josh) David HawleyRenewed focus on Trump's Supreme Court list after Ginsburg's death What Facebook's planned change to its terms of service means for the Section 230 debate Republican Senators raise concerns over Oracle-TikTok deal MORE (R-Mo.) unveiled nine questions he wants to ask, each of which will focus on top GOP areas of interest including the intelligence community whistleblower whose complaint helped spurred the impeachment inquiry, as well as Hunter Biden.

Hawley, for example, wants to ask House managers if President Obama was aware of Biden’s work for Burisma, a Ukrainian gas company, while his father, former Vice President Joe Biden Joe BidenBiden leads Trump by 36 points nationally among Latinos: poll GOP set to release controversial Biden report Can Donald Trump maintain new momentum until this November? MORE, was handling Ukraine policy.

“Before Vice President Joe Biden sought to remove [Ukrainian Prosecutor General Viktor] Shokin, did the White House Counsel’s Office or the Office of the Vice President legal counsel issue ethics advice approving Mr. Biden’s involvement in matters involving Shokin, despite the presence of Hunter Biden on the Burisma board?” Hawley asks in another question.

There's no evidence that Biden was acting with his son's interests in mind when he pushed for Shokin's dismissal, a position that reflected the views of the Obama administration and U.S. allies in Europe. The former vice president has denied doing so and the GOP claims have been debunked by fact-checkers.

Sen. Kevin Cramer Kevin John CramerMomentum growing among Republicans for Supreme Court vote before Election Day On Paycheck Protection Program, streamlined forgiveness is key McConnell shores up GOP support for coronavirus package MORE (R-N.D.), asked to muse on what questions he had, said he remained curious about why the House didn’t dig into the fight over getting former national security adviser John Bolton John BoltonDiplomacy with China is good for America The Hill's Morning Report - Sponsored by The Air Line Pilots Association - Pence lauds Harris as 'experienced debater'; Trump, Biden diverge over debate prep DOJ launches probe into Bolton book for possible classified information disclosures MORE’s testimony.

“Why did the House let up so easily on John Bolton,” he said, “but I don’t think that’s a unique one.”

He added that he was also curious about the House managers' view on Rudy Giuliani Rudy GiulianiDemocrats fear Russia interference could spoil bid to retake Senate Grand jury adds additional counts against Giuliani associates Lev Parnas and and Igor Fruman Juan Williams: Breaking down the debates MORE, Trump’s personal attorney.

“You know there's been so much talk about him,” Cramer said. “They really never pursued Rudy Giuliani … I’d like a little more clarity on that.”