The Senate sent a strong signal on Tuesday that there are not enough votes to condemn President Trump
Donald TrumpSchumer: The impeachment trial will be swift, it doesn’t need many witnesses Nurse to be chosen by Biden as interim general surgeon: Schumer report asks Biden to declare climate emergency MORE in an impeachment trial when only five Republican senators rejected an attempt by the senator. Rand Paul
Randal (Rand) Howard Paul Senate will vote on Tuesday to choose Biden’s secretary of state, Leahy, and not Roberts, to chair the impeachment trial. On Sunday shows the preview: All eyes on the administration of Biden to fight the coronavirus MORE (R-Ky.) To declare the judgment unconstitutional.
The Senate voted 55-45 to overturn Paul’s motion, with all but five Republican senators on Paul’s side. GOP Sens. Mitt Romney
Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyHouse formally sends impeachment to the Senate, putting Trump on trial for Capitol disturbance Bernie Sanders was the most followed member of Congress on social media for six years. The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden: Focus on vaccine, viruses, travel MORE (Utah), Ben Sasse
Ben SasseJuan Williams: May America be America Kremlin: US statements on pro-Navalny protests show ‘direct support for violating the law’ Senators discuss the validity of Trump’s impeachment trial MORE (Neb.), Susan Collins
Susan Margaret CollinsCollins: The minimum wage increase should be separated from the COVID-19 aid package The Hill’s Morning Report – Biden: Focus on vaccine, viruses, travel Moderates vow to ‘be a force’ under Biden MORE (Maine), Lisa Murkowski
Lisa Ann MurkowskiModerates promises to ‘be a force’ under the command of Biden Senators discuss the validity of Trump’s impeachment trial Trump’s impeachment trial will begin the week of February 8 MORE (Alaska) and Pat Toomey
Patrick (Pat) Joseph ToomeyThe government used the Patriot Act to collect records of website visitors in 2019 The appeals court ruled that the mass collection of telephone data from the NSA is illegal. (Pa.) He voted with the Democrats to present Paulo’s point of order.
The vote is the clearest sign that Trump is heading for a second acquittal and offers an initial view that Republicans are lining up behind the argument that his second impeachment trial is not constitutional.
Trump will be the first president to be put on trial after leaving office, but the Senate had already held an impeachment trial for a cabinet official after he left office.
Paul, speaking before the vote, warned that he wanted to force his colleagues to go to the register.
“If we’re going to put all politicians in prison, are we going to accuse all politicians who used the words ‘fight’ figuratively in a speech? Shame,” he said, accusing Democrats of being “disturbed by his hatred” for Trump.
“I want this body registered. Every person here,” added Paul.
Several Republican senators said before voting that they had not made a decision on how they were going to vote, did not speak to Paul or, until they saw the Senate plenary schedule on Tuesday, did not know that he would force the vote.
“I admit that I didn’t think there would be a vote on that right now,” said Murkowski.
Sen. Roy Blunt
Roy Dean BluntTrump, allies increase pressure on the Republican Party before the impeachment This week: Senate stuck in limbo Skepticism reigns as Biden and McConnell begin a new era MORE (R-Mo.) He added, “Until I read my warning from the leader this morning, I didn’t know there was a chance that this would happen.
Although some Republican Party senators have said they are waiting to hear the presentations during the trial, a growing number appear to be clinging to the argument that the trial, which will begin next month, is not constitutional.
Legal professor Jonathan Turley attended a closed-door Republican Party lunch, where senators discussed the strategy.
Sen. Joni Ernst
Morning report by Joni Kay ErnstThe Hill – Biden takes office, calls for an end to the ‘uncivil war’ The Senate confirms Biden’s intelligence chief, giving him the first divided Democratic cabinet officer at the time of the impeachment trial MORE (R-Iowa) said in a statement late on Monday that while Trump “displayed poor leadership and had some responsibility” for the January 6 attack on the Capitol, his “concern now is that the president is no longer in charge. “
“Congress would be opening up to a dangerous standard of using impeachment as a tool of political revenge against a private citizen, and the only remedy at this point is to deprive the convict of his ability to run for a future office – a move that undoubtedly it would remove millions of voters from their ability to choose a candidate in the next election, “he added.
Romney and Murkowski said on Tuesday before the vote that they believed the trial was constitutional.
“My review led me to conclude that it is constitutional to recognize that impeachment is not just about removing a president, it is also a matter of political consequences,” said Murkowski.
Romney added that “the preponderance of opinion regarding the constitutionality of a former president’s impeachment trial is to say that it is a constitutional process.”
Democrats criticized the Republican Party’s pressure to dismiss Trump’s trial as unconstitutional, arguing that Republicans are trying to avoid having to make a decision on whether Trump’s rhetoric has been condemned.
“Some of my Republican colleagues have clung to a marginal legal theory that the Senate does not have the constitutional power to hold a trial because Donald Trump is no longer in office,” said the Senate majority leader. Charles Schumer
Chuck SchumerMcConnell: Power-sharing deal could continue after Manchin and Sinema again obstructed the law enforcement officer to investigate whether officials tried to interfere in the aftermath of the Capitol Election Uprising: The PATRIOT Act 2.0? MORE (DN.Y.).
“This argument has been totally debunked by constitutional scholars from the left, right and center. It defies precedents, historical practice and basic common sense,” he added.