The Senate, dominated by Republicans, is expected to vote at 4 PM today to free President Donald Trump from charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, which will end his impeachment proceedings.
Here are the things to expect from today’s votes:
The last vote is expected to be drawn at 4 p.m., in which Senate lawmakers will make the decision to either convict or acquit Trump of the said charges against him.
67 out of 100 votes is the Senate’s requirement to represent the two-thirds majority and vote Trump out of office, but as of now, all 53 Republicans in the upper chamber already decided to acquit him, with some Democrats wanting to join them.
Senators gave their closing arguments this week. Despite the expected decision to acquit Trump, some Republicans condemned Trump’s actions to an extent but were convinced that those actions do not merit removal from office.
Here are the things to look out for:
Who among the Democrats will likely to join Republicans in acquitting Trump?
Reports said that Joe Manchin, Democratic Senator for West Virginia, belongs to one of those who are expected to succumb to constituent pressure, as Trump won 68.5% of the West Virginia vote in 2016. He also said he did not see enough support for a conviction, and has called for a censure instead as he wants to please his Democratic base too.
On the other hand, Republican Senator Susan Collins, who last week voted to hear witnesses during the trial, told a reporter from CBS that she is already set to vote to acquit Trump.
After House Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued a formal inquiry last September, this week marks four months of impeachment proceedings of Donald Trump. He was impeached in December because of charges of abuse of power and obstruction of congress, backed up by accusations that he kept $400 million in military aid to Ukraine to pressure its president, Volodymyr Zelensky, to order an investigation into his known rival Joe Biden and his son.
The trial which lasted two weeks shown Democratic ‘impeachment managers’ and Trump’s lawyers fight over proceedings. Meanwhile, Democrats’ request that key witnesses should testify, including ex-national security adviser John Bolton, was rejected when the Senate voted 51 to 49 against it.
As of today, Donald Trump is the third president to be impeached, and will most likely be the third to succeed on a senate trial.point 218 |
He will now join the ranks of Andrew Johnson, whose 1868 impeachment trial for Civil War-related charges ended in acquittal, and Bill Clinton, who was impeached in 1999 for lying under oath and obstruction of justice, and got acquitted later on.point 205 |
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Replaced!