On Tuesday, Senator Bill Cassidy joined five other Republican Senators in voting that the impeachment trial of former President Donald Trump is constitutional. This was a reversal of his previous position on the issue.
In January, Republican Rand Paul (KY) pushed through a Senate resolution on the constitutionality of the impeachment, at which time Cassidy voted that the trial would be unconstitutional. However, at the time, Cassidy noted that “It was a vote in a moment of time.” Cassidy also stated that he was looking forward to hearing presentations from both sides, and promised to serve as an impartial juror.
Today’s vote seems to uphold the idea that he will be impartial. Cassidy issued a statement saying House impeachment managers made “much stronger arguments” on the constitutional question.
“We heard arguments from both sides on the constitutionality of having a Senate trial of a president who has since left office. A sufficient amount of evidence of constitutionality exists for the Senate to proceed with the trial. This vote is not a prejudgement on the final vote to convict,” Cassidy said in a statement after the vote. “If anyone disagrees with my vote and would like an explanation, I ask them to listen to the arguments presented by the House managers and former President Trump’s lawyers. The House managers had much stronger arguments. The president’s team did not.”
- Susan Collins
- Lisa Murkowski
- Mitt Romney
- Ben Sasse
- Pat Toomey
The vote passed 56-44. Now, the House impeachment managers and Trump’s defense team will each have 16 hours spread over two days to present their cases. House managers will go first.
