Forty-five Republican senators voted against a potential second impeachment trial for former President Donald J. Trump Tuesday. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., had called for a procedural vote regarding the constitutionality of the effort filed by the House since Trump is now out of office.
The Senate just voted on my constitutional point of order.
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.
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 26, 2021
“If you voted that it was unconstitutional, how in the world would you ever vote to convict somebody for this?” Paul told reporters, according to Politico. “This vote indicates it’s over. The trial is all over.”
House Democrats accused Trump of “incitement of insurrection” in the Jan. 6 Capitol Hill riot, voting in favor of the impeachment without holding hearings and sending the vote to the Senate, where a trial could disqualify him from office.
“This is not a trial; this is political theater. You cannot remove someone from office who is already out of office,” Sen. James Lankford, R.-Okla., said in a press release. “The U.S. Constitution outlines the basic process for impeachment and trial of the president, but it says nothing about trying a former president.”
Since Trump is no longer president, Chief Justice John Roberts won’t preside over the impeachment trial, should it occur. Instead, Sen. Patrick Leahy, D-Vt., will preside, according to The Hill.
Paul had a comment about that as well:
If Chief Justice Roberts can’t be bothered to come over for the so-called impeachment, makes you wonder if this exercise is constitutional at all.
Leahy, not Roberts, to preside over impeachment trial | TheHill https://t.co/zAJASSKHf9
— Senator Rand Paul (@RandPaul) January 25, 2021
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