Vermont Democratic Senator and Senate President Pro Tempore Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont).
Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), who presided over the impeachment trial of former U.S. President Donald Trump, was hospitalized on the 26th due to ill health, a statement from Leahy’s office confirmed. Leahy had just been sworn in as a juror for the impeachment trial when he suffered from a hoarse throat and discomfort.
A spokesman for Leahy, 80, one of the senior Democratic senators, said in a statement, “Tonight, Senator Leahy felt ill while in his congressional office,” according to a variety of media reports.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the attending physician at the Capitol recommended that Leahy be taken to a local hospital for observation, and Leahy is now there and being evaluated there.
On Jan. 25, Leahy confirmed that he will preside over the Feb. 8 Senate impeachment session against Trump. As required by the Constitution, Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts (John Roberts) should preside over the impeachment of the president, but the presiding officer selection was previously controversial because Trump had left office.
Many Republican Senate members opposed the impeachment of former President Trump, and on January 26, with Senate Minority Speaker McConnell voting against the case, 45 Republican senators voted to declare their opposition to moving forward with the impeachment process against Trump.
The move suggests that there is no way for Democrats to get at least 17 votes from within the Republican Party to support a conviction, and that the Senate is unlikely to convict former President Trump by more than two-thirds (67 votes) in a February impeachment.
Republican Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) tweeted after the vote that the 45 votes meant the impeachment trial in the Senate was dead. Forty-five senators agreed that the sham trial was unconstitutional; that’s more votes than needed to acquit and finally end this partisan impeachment process,” he wrote. This so-called trial is dead on arrival in the Senate.
Earlier Tuesday, Paul said the day’s Senate vote would show that impeaching Trump was essentially a waste of Time now that Trump is out of office.
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