WASHINGTON (WFLA) — Florida’s two Republican senators voted on Tuesday to declare President Donald Trump’s historic second impeachment trial unconstitutional.
The Senate rejected the Republican attempt to dismiss the impeachment trial, a vote that allows the case on “incitement of insurrection” to move forward but also foreshadows that there may not be enough votes to convict him.
A total of 45 Republican senators, including Rubio and Scott voted to stop the trial.
The procedural vote to set aside an objection from Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul and puts the Senate on record as declaring the proceedings constitutional and means the trial will begin as scheduled the week of Feb. 8.
Paul argues that it was unconstitutional to hold an impeachment trial of a former president
The House impeached Trump two weeks ago for inciting deadly riots in the Capitol on Jan. 6 when he told his supporters to “fight like hell” to overturn his election defeat.
Conviction would require the support of all Democrats and 17 Republicans, or two-thirds of the Senate — far from the five Republicans who voted with Democrats Tuesday to allow the trial to proceed. They were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania — all recent critics of the former president and his effort to overturn President Joe Biden’s win.
