Newsman: Efforts to dismiss the impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump were failed in the US senate on Tuesday. Senate Republicans on embraced the argument that ‘trying a former president’ is unconstitutional, setting up a procedural escape for lawmakers to acquit former President Donald Trump on a charge of inciting the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
The motion failed by a vote of 45-55, enabling the trial to move forward.Forty-five Senate Republicans voted to dismiss the trial as unconstitutional. The motion, led by Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., was backed by Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., whose vote could be influential in the outcome.
But it signifies that it would be critical finding the two-thirds majority needed against Donald Trump in the upcoming trial and underscores the doubtfulness of convict Donald Trump. But yet the vote doesn’t necessarily indicate the final outcome, as some senators who voted to dismiss haven’t ruled out a conviction.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., has rejected the argument that the trial is unconstitutional, and he promised that it will go forward. He has said that if Trump is convicted, there will also be a vote to bar him from holding federal office again, as allowed under the Constitution.
However, At least 17 Republicans will be needed to convict Donald Trump. But just five voted to proceed with the trial: Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Susan Collins of Maine and Lisa Murkowski of Alaska.
The nonpartisan Congressional Research Service wrote in a report Jan. 15 that “most scholars who have closely examined the question have concluded that Congress has authority to extend the impeachment process to officials who are no longer in office.”
