Bill Cassidy joins five other Republican senators who have broken the ranks to vote that Trump’s impeachment trial is constitutional

Bill Cassidy joins five other Republican senators who have broken the ranks to vote that Trump’s impeachment trial is constitutional

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The final 56-44 vote marked the final chapter of Tuesday’s proceedings, with the Senate postponed until noon on Wednesday. All but six Republican senators voted that the trial was unconstitutional because Trump is no longer president. It was the second time that such a vote was taken after Sen. Rand Paul, a Kentucky Republican, forced a vote on the same issue last month.

See which Republican senators voted that the impeachment trial was consistent with the Constitution:

Cassidy told CNN on Tuesday after the Chamber managers’ presentation was a “very good opening” and they made strong arguments. During the presentation, managers of the House’s impeachment showed how protesters violently violated the U.S. Capitol and attacked police officers, invoking Trump’s name while trying to interrupt certification in the November election.

“House administrators were focused, they were organized” and “they made a compelling case,” said Cassidy after the vote. In contrast, he added, “President Trump’s team was disorganized. They did everything they could, except to talk about the issue at hand and when they talked about it, they kind of slipped, almost as if they were ashamed of their arguments. “

Several Republican senators considered the arguments offered by Trump’s legal team to be lackluster. Murkowski said she “was really shocked by the first lawyer who came up to former President Trump,” attorney Bruce Castor.

“I couldn’t find out where he was going, I spent 45 minutes going somewhere, but I don’t think he helped us to better understand where he was coming from on the constitutionality of that,” she added. “And I felt that (fellow Trump attorney David) Schoen did a … better job, but I think they missed an opportunity with their first, first lawyer there.”

Texas Republican Senator John Cornyn said bluntly to reporters: “I thought the president’s lawyer, the first lawyer, just rambled and didn’t address the constitutional argument – finally, the second lawyer solved the problem and thought, he did a job effective. “He quickly added,” But I saw a lot of lawyers and a lot of arguments and it wasn’t one of the best I’ve seen. “

Trump did not like Castor’s initial argument on the Senate floor, according to two people familiar with his reaction. Trump was almost shouting as Castor came up with sinuous arguments that struggled to get to the heart of his defense team’s argument, which should be about the constitutionality of holding a trial for a president who is no longer in office.

Schoen, who spoke in second place, would initially present first, not Castor, according to two people familiar with the plan.

The Senate introduced the initial effort by Paul, a Kentucky Republican, late last month to force a vote on the constitutionality of the trial, but the vote offered an indicator of how Republican senators – who voted overwhelmingly for Paul’s measure – were feel about the attempts.

Paul’s motion was rejected in a 55-45 vote, with five Republicans joining all Democrats, meaning that 45 Republicans voted in favor of Paul. Romney, Sasse, Collins, Murkowski and Toomey crossed party lines to join the Democrats in that vote.

This story has been updated with additional details.

CNN’s Kristin Wilson, Jeremy Herb, Lauren Fox, Clare Foran, Ted Barrett, Kaitlan Collins, Annie Grayer and Sarah Fortinsky contributed to this report.

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