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Forty-five Senate Republicans backed a failed effort to stop the impeachment of former President Donald Trump, in a show of party unity that some cited as a clear sign that he will not be convicted of inciting an uprising on Capitol Hill.
Republican Senator Rand Paul made a motion in the Senate floor that would have required the House to vote on whether Trump’s upcoming trial violates the United States Constitution.
The Democratic-led Senate blocked the motion on a 55-45 vote. But only five Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the measure, far short of the 17 Republicans who would need to vote to convict Trump on a trial charge. politician who, according to him, cited the January 6 assault on the United States Capitol that left five dead.
“It’s one of the few times in Washington where a loss is actually a victory,” Paul later told reporters. “Forty-five votes mean impeachment is dead upon arrival.”
But some Republican senators who backed Paul’s motion said their vote did not indicate how they could criticize Trump’s guilt or innocence after a trial that begins Feb.9.
“It’s a totally different issue as far as I’m concerned,” Republican Sen. Rob Portman told reporters.
The vote came after the senators were sworn in as members of the impeachment jury.
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Paul and other Republicans maintain that the proceedings are unconstitutional because Trump left office last Wednesday and the trial will be overseen by Democratic Senator Patrick Leahy instead of Chief Justice John Roberts.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, who moved to thwart Paul’s motion, dismissed the Republican constitutional claim as “completely wrong” and said it would provide “a constitutional get out of jail card” for presidents. guilty of misconduct.
There is a debate among academics over whether the Senate can hold a trial for Trump now that he’s left office. Many experts have said that “late impeachment” is constitutional, arguing that presidents who misconduct at the end of their terms should not be immune to the same process established in the constitution to hold them accountable.
The constitution makes clear that impeachment proceedings may result in disqualification from holding office in the future, so there is still an active issue for the Senate to resolve, those scholars said.
Also Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who has been critical of Trump, rejected Paul’s measure.
“My review has led me to conclude that it is constitutional, recognizing that impeachment is not just about removing a president, it is also a question of political consequences,” he said.
He joined fellow Republicans Mitt Romney, Susan Collins, Ben Sasse and Patrick Toomey in opposing Paul.
Trump is the only president to have been indicted twice by the House of Representatives and the first to face trial after leaving power, with the possibility of being disqualified from future public office if convicted by two-thirds of the Senate.
He was acquitted by the then Republican-controlled Senate last February on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress stemming from his request that Ukraine investigate Democratic rival Joe Biden and his son.
The House passed a single impeachment article on January 13, accusing him of inciting an insurrection with an incendiary speech to his supporters before they stormed the Capitol. A police officer and four other people were killed in the riot.
Some Republicans have criticized Trump’s false claims of voter fraud and his failed efforts to overturn Biden’s election victory on November 3. But no Senate Republicans have definitively said they plan to vote to convict him.
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