U.S. Republican senators united to oppose the trial of former President Trump for “sedition” on the 26th, with only five Republican lawmakers joining the Democrats in voting for the continuation of Trump’s impeachment trial. The vote shows that Trump continues to have strong power in the Republican Party, despite the fact that he has already left his post as president.
The New York Times reports that Trump’s impeachment trial is not expected to begin until February 9, but Republican Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) voted on February 26 on whether to proceed with Trump’s impeachment trial, arguing that trying the former president would violate the U.S. Constitution.
The Senate voted 55 to 45 to reject the vote initiated by Paul. But the vote also strongly suggested that the Senate did not have enough votes to impeach the former president. All but a handful of Republican senators have expressed opposition to impeaching Trump, underscoring his continued influence within the party. This is despite Trump’s continued attempts to overturn the results of an election he believes was fraudulent and his calls for supporters to go to Congress to protest the results, which eventually led to demonstrations in Congress.
Paul tweeted after the vote that the 45 votes meant the impeachment trial in the Senate was dead. He wrote: “45 senators agree that this sham ‘trial’ was unconstitutional; it was more than the number of votes needed to acquit and finally end this partisan impeachment process. This so-called ‘trial’ is dead on arrival in the Senate.”
With the outcome of this vote, the Senate may not convict Trump, and loyal Republicans are reluctant to cut ties with him. The Senate would need at least 67 votes in favor to convict Trump, meaning 17 Republicans would have to find Trump guilty.
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