Senate Republicans are warning that they no longer view former President Trump
Though only seven of the 50 GOP senators voted to find Trump “guilty” at the end of his second impeachment trial, Republicans, including those who voted to acquit, are plotting a future where Trump is no longer their center of gravity after years of dominating their day-to-day lives.
Trump is showing no signs of going away, saying in a statement after the trial concluded that the MAGA movement was just getting started. But Republicans say he has a diminished following and competition for the party’s top spot.
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If even five or six GOP senators decide that Trump ought to be convicted, it would be the most bipartisan vote of its kind in American history even as it would be well short of the super-majority required to produce an actual conviction.
GOP strategist Alex Conant, a former adviser to Sen. Marco Rubio
Such a vote would underline the deep fissures in a party that is still trying to grapple with the legacy of the 45th president and with his magnetic hold on the party’s grassroots activists.
In recent weeks, battles over the House leadership position of Rep. Liz Cheney
“If you feel that you have no authority, then you can’t go on and say ‘well we have no authority but I guess I’ll go ahead and convict anyway,’ ” Hawley said. “I’d be surprised if many or any of those people change their minds on the underlying question of whether or not to oppose a penalty or not.”
Assuming every Democrat votes to find Trump “guilty,” they would still need 17 Republican senators to side with them in order to convict Trump, in what would amount to a historic first. On Tuesday, they got six to say the trial was constitutional.
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Asked if McConnell believes the trial could wrap this weekend, Cramer responded: He does.
The Senate is starting the first day of opening arguments on Wednesday. Under the trial s organizing resolutions, if everyone used all of their time, those would last until Saturday night. Both sides get 16 hours spread out over two days.
After that senators will have up to four hours for questions, with both parties getting two hours. The House impeachment managers haven t ruled out trying to call witnesses, something the Senate would need to vote to approve, but if they don t, the trial could go straight to closing arguments followed by a vote on whether to convict Trump.