The Senate tabled an effort by Sen. Rand Paul Tuesday to force a vote on the constitutionality of former President Donald Trump’s impeachment trial, CNN reports, but the vote offered an indicator for how Republican senators — who overwhelmingly voted for Paul’s measure — feel about the trial.
Paul’s motion was killed on a 55-45 vote, with five Republicans joining all Democrats, meaning 45 Republicans voted for Paul’s effort. Republican Sens. Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania crossed party lines to vote with Democrats.
In order to convict Trump at his trial, at least 17 Republicans will need to vote with all Democrats when the trial begins next month. Significantly, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell sided with Paul in the vote — a potential indicator that he agrees the constitutionality of impeaching a former President is in question.
Paul argued after the vote that the fact that 45 Republicans sided with him “shows that impeachment is dead on arrival. If you voted that it was unconstitutional then how in the world would you ever hope to convict somebody for this?” Paul asked, adding ,”45 of us, almost the entire caucus, 95% of the caucus, voted that the whole proceeding was unconstitutional. This is a big victory for us. Democrats can beat this partisan horse as long as they want — this vote indicates it’s over, the trial is all over.”
Even those Republicans who voted against Paul’s measure — including Collins — said Tuesday’s vote was a sign of the eventual outcome of the trial. “Do the math,” she said. “I think it’s extraordinarily unlikely that the President will be convicted.” Still, the trial will offer both sides a chance to make their case, and some lawmakers who voted with Paul left open the idea that they still could vote differently next month.
The Senate vote on Tuesday effectively put senators on record as to whether they believe a trial of a former President is constitutional. Given the limited language in the Constitution on impeachment, legal experts disagree about whether the Senate can convict a former president. But Democrats have pointed to legal scholars on both ends of the political spectrum who say a trial is constitutional.
