On Tuesday, 45 Republican Senators voted in favor of Sen. Rand Paul’s (R-KY) proposed motion to dismiss the impeachment trial against former President Donald Trump.
As Christian Headlines previously reported, House Democrats delivered an article of impeachment to the Senate on Monday in preparation for the trail set to take place Feb. 9.
According to The Daily Wire, the Senate rejected Paul’s motion after he deemed the impeachment trial unconstitutional for trying to impeach a former president who is no longer in office.
The decision to proceed with the trial was finalized in a 55-45 vote as five Republican Senators voted with Democrats.
The five Republican Senators who voted in favor of the trial included Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), who previously showed support for Trump’s impeachment, was amongst those who voted with Paul’s motion to dismiss the trail.
Despite the motion’s rejection, the majority of Republicans in opposition to the trial implies that the Senate may not be able to convict Trump after all, as 17 Republicans would have to vote with Democrats in order to meet the required 67 supermajority vote.
“The Senate just voted on my constitutional point of order,” Paul tweeted immediately after the vote. “45 Senators agreed that this sham of a ‘trial’ is unconstitutional. That is more than will be needed to acquit and to eventually end this partisan impeachment process. This ‘trial’ is dead on arrival in the Senate.”
During a speech on the Senate floor, Paul denounced Democrats for causing division despite President Joe Biden’s call for unity.
Sen. @RandPaul:
— Daily Caller (@DailyCaller) January 26, 2021
"Democrats are about to drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol the likes of which has never been seen in our nation’s history... It’s almost as if they have no ability to exist except in opposition to Donald Trump." pic.twitter.com/kiCimV0GIX
“Hyper-partisan Democrats are about to drag our great country down into the gutter of rancor and vitriol the likes of which has never been seen in our nation’s history,” he argued. “Instead of doing the nation’s work with their new majorities in the House, the Senate, and the executive branch, Democrats are wasting the nation’s time on a partisan vendetta against a man no longer in office.”
“It’s almost as if they have no ability to exist except in opposition to Donald Trump,” Paul continued. “Without him as their boogeyman, they might have to legislate and to actually convince Americans that their policy prescriptions are the right ones.”
Photo credit: ©Getty Images/Yaya Ernst
Milton Quintanilla is a freelance writer and content creator. He is a contributing writer for CrosswalkHeadlines and the host of the For Your Soul Podcast, a podcast devoted to sound doctrine and biblical truth. He holds a Masters of Divinity from Alliance Theological Seminary.
