Republicans largely oppose impeachment of Trump

WASHINGTON: All but five Senate Republicans voted in favor of an effort to dismiss the historic second impeachment trial of Donald Trump on Tuesday (January 26), making clear a conviction of the former president for “incitement to insurrection” after the deadly siege of the Capitol on January 6. It is unlikely.

While Republicans failed to finish the trial before it began, the trial vote made clear that Trump still has enormous influence over his party, as he becomes the first former president to be tried by impeachment.

Many Republicans have criticized Trump’s role in the attack, before which he told his supporters to “fight like hell” to reverse his defeat, but most of them were quick to defend him at trial.

“I think this indicates where the heads of many people are,” South Dakota Sen. John Thune, the second Senate Republican, said after the vote.

Late Tuesday, trial chair Senator Patrick Leahy was taken to the hospital for observation after not feeling well in his office, spokesman David Carle said in a statement.

The 80-year-old senator was examined by the Capitol’s treating physician, who recommended that he be taken to the hospital as a precaution, he said.

Leahy presided over the trial’s first procedural vote, a count of 55-45 that caused the Senate to override an objection by Kentucky Senator Rand Paul that would have declared the impeachment process unconstitutional and dismissed the trial.

The vote means that Trump’s impeachment trial will begin as scheduled the week of February 8. The Chamber charged him on January 13, just one week after the deadly insurrection in which five people died.

What to some Democrats seemed like an open and closed case that played out for the world on live television is meeting a Republican Party that feels very different. Senators not only say they have legal concerns, but are wary of crossing paths with the former president and his legions of supporters.

It’s unclear if any Republicans would vote to convict Trump on the actual incitement charge after voting for Paul’s effort to declare it unconstitutional.

Ohio Senator Rob Portman said after the vote that he had not yet made a decision and that constitutionality “is a totally different issue” than the office itself.

But many others indicated that they believe the final vote will be similar.

The vote shows they “have a long way to go to prove it,” Iowa Sen. Joni Ernst said of the House Democrats’ job. South Carolina Senator Lindsey Graham, a close Trump ally, said he believes the vote was “a floor, not a ceiling.”

Oklahoma Sen. James Lankford said he believes most Republicans will not see the light of day between constitutionality and the incitement article.

“Are you asking me to vote in a trial that alone is not constitutionally allowed?” I ask.

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The conviction would require the support of all Democrats and 17 Republicans, or two-thirds of the Senate, far from the five Republicans who voted with Democrats on Tuesday to allow the trial to proceed.

They were Senators Susan Collins from Maine, Lisa Murkowski from Alaska, Mitt Romney from Utah, Ben Sasse from Nebraska and Pat Toomey from Pennsylvania, all recent critics of the former president and his effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s victory.

Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell, who has said Trump “sparked” the riots and indicated he is open to conviction, voted with Paul to move toward dismissing the trial.

Democrats rejected the argument that the trial is illegitimate or unconstitutional because Trump is no longer in office, pointing to an 1876 impeachment of a secretary of war who had already resigned and the views of many jurists.

Democrats also say a reckoning is needed for the first invasion of the Capitol since the War of 1812, perpetrated by rioters incited by a president while Electoral College votes were being counted.

“It makes no sense that a president, or any official, could commit a heinous crime against our country and then defeat the impeachment powers of Congress – and avoid a vote on disqualification – simply by resigning or waiting to commit that crime until his or her death. the last few weeks in office, ”said Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer.

Before the vote, the senators officially opened the trial by taking an oath to guarantee “fair justice” as jurors.

The nine House Democrats who prosecuted the case against Trump carried the lone impeachment charge across the Capitol Monday night in a solemn and ceremonial march through the same hallways that rioters looted three ago. weeks.

The House Chief Prosecutor, Representative Jamie Raskin of Maryland, appeared before the Senate to describe the violent events of January 6 and read the House resolution charging “felonies and misdemeanors.”

READ: Capitol police chief apologizes for failures in the January 6 siege

For Democrats, the tone, tenor, and length of the trial so early in Biden’s presidency poses its own challenge, forcing them to strike a balance between their promise to hold Trump accountable and their enthusiasm to deliver on Biden’s priorities. the new administration after its sweep of control of the House, Senate and White House.

Chief Justice John Roberts is not presiding over the trial, as he did during Trump’s first impeachment trial, which could affect the severity of the process. The change is said to be in line with protocol because Trump is no longer in office.

Instead, Leahy, who plays the mostly ceremonial role of president pro tempore of the Senate, was sworn in Tuesday.

Leaders of both sides agreed to a brief delay in the proceedings, which serves their political and practical interests, even as National Guard troops remain on Capitol Hill due to threats to the safety of lawmakers before trial.

The start date gives Trump’s still-evolving legal team time to prepare his case, while also providing more than a month away from the passions of the bloody riots. For the Democrat-led Senate, the weeks in between provide the best time to confirm some of Biden’s key cabinet nominees.