Six Republican senators on Tuesday joined 50 Democrats in voting to proceed with the impeachment trial of former President Donald J. Trump, forming a contingent far smaller than what can be wanted to convict Mr. Trump of “incitement of insurrection” associated to the riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6.
The six Republicans have been Senators Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania.
The vote on Tuesday addressed the constitutional query of whether or not the Senate has the energy to attempt Mr. Trump though he has left workplace.
The outcome largely mirrored the tally final month, when the Senate voted to kill an try to dismiss the trial as unconstitutional. Five Republicans had joined all 50 Democrats in help of going forward with the trial, although others later stated they have been nonetheless open to listening to the case and described their votes as a name for extra debate on the constitutionality of the trial.
But in the finish, the lone senator to swap sides was Mr. Cassidy. In an announcement on Tuesday, he stated that “a sufficient amount of evidence of constitutionality exists for the Senate to proceed with the trial,” including, “This vote is not a prejudgment on the final vote to convict.”
“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,” he continued. “The House managers had much stronger constitutional arguments. The president’s team did not.”
Like the vote in January, the one on Tuesday signaled that Mr. Trump was all however sure to be acquitted. Seventeen Republicans would want to be part of all 50 Democrats to attain the two-thirds threshold for convicting the former president.
