The Senate declared the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump constitutional in a 56 to 44 vote.
Six Republicans joined Democrats in their efforts to strike down attempts to call the trial unconstitutional.
Sens. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Susan Collins (R-Maine), Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska), Mitt Romney (R-Utah), Ben Sasse (R-Neb.), and Pat Toomey (R-Pa.) voted to declare the proceedings constitutional.
The six Republicans who voted with Democrats in favor of the constitutionality of the impeachment trial:
— Phil Mattingly (@Phil_Mattingly) February 9, 2021
Sen. Susan Collins
Sen. Lisa Murkowski
Sen. Ben Sasse
Sen. Pat Toomey
Sen. Mitt Romney
Sen. Bill Cassidy
Cassidy released a statement after his “yes” vote.
“We have heard arguments on both sides on the constitutionality of having a Senate trial of a president who has since left office. A sufficient amount of evidence of constitutionality exists for the Senate to proceed with the trial. This vote is not a prejudgment on the final vote to convict,” Cassidy wrote.
He added, “If anyone disagrees with my vote and would like an explanation, I ask them to listen to the arguments presented by the House Managers and former President Trump’s lawyers. The House managers had much stronger constitutional arguments. The president’s team did not.”
Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-Louisiana) on his vote to declare that the impeachment trial of Donald Trump is constitutional. pic.twitter.com/6LnteXvxeX
— Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 9, 2021
Last month Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.) called for a vote to declare the trial unconstitutional, as IJR previously reported.
His measure failed in a 55-45 vote. Only five Republicans said it was constitutional, including Sens. Mitt Romney (Utah), Ben Sasse (Neb.), Susan Collins (Maine), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska), and Pat Toomey (Pa.).
Paul later suggested that Chief Justice John Roberts’s absence at the trial proves it is unconstitutional, as IJR previously reported.
“Myself and others were like, ‘Oh my goodness, the chief justice is not coming. That’s a huge, huge signal that there’s something wrong with this proceeding,'” Paul previously told The Hill.
He continued, “The optics of the chief justice not coming and then also the optics of a person who had favored the last impeachment now presiding over the trial — who’s also going to vote in the trial — it just didn’t look right or sound right to any of us.”
The proceedings are expected to resume at 12 p.m. EST on Wednesday.
