(CNN) Senators and aides in each party say there is an effort in the works to hold a short, morning-only impeachment trial session on Saturday to hear the beginning of the opening arguments from President Donald Trump's defense counsel and then allowing senators to leave town for the weekend.

The plan is not finalized but seemed to be gaining steam on Thursday as word of the plan circulated through the Republican and Democratic caucuses.

"I'm hoping for an early start on Saturday," said Sen. Roy Blunt a Republican from Missouri who chairs the Rules Committee and has been closely involved with Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell in arranging the logistics and other support of the trial.

An early start is possible, in part, because Chief Justice John Roberts would not need to do his day job presiding over the Supreme Court on a Saturday, something he's done all week before presiding over the impeachment trial in the afternoon and into the night.

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