On January 26, the U.S. Senate voted, 55-45, to defeat a motion to declare Trump‘s impeachment unconstitutional. However, this vote shows that the impeachment case against Trump may be difficult to pass.
On the same day, Republican Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) filed a motion to declare the impeachment of Trump unconstitutional. The Senate vote on the motion was rejected by a vote of 55 to 45. Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) voted in favor of Paul.
The vote showed that 45 of the Senate’s 50 Republican lawmakers believe impeachment is unconstitutional, with only five taking a different position.
And the impeachment trial against Trump in February required two-thirds of senators to vote for it to pass, meaning at least 17 Republicans would need to support impeachment.
Republicans have criticized the fact that there has never been a precedent for impeachment against a president who has left office.
In addition, according to the Constitution, the Senate impeachment trial of the president needs to be presided over by the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court. But because the current chief justice, John Roberts, is unwilling to participate, the impeachment trial will be presided over by the Senate president pro tempore, Patrick Leahy, a Democrat. Republicans believe that this will further delegitimize the impeachment trial.
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