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WASHINGTON, DC (AP)- Friday, the Senate voted 51-49 against hearing new testimony and evidence at President Trump’s impeachment trial. Two Republicans, Suzanne Collins of Maine and Mitt Romney of Utah, voted with Democrats, but four were needed to swing the vote in favor of more testimony.
With words of support from the two Republican Senators came a possibility of a tie, if not a victory. Senator Lamar Alexander of Tennessee swiftly announced his ‘no’ vote, and Lisa Murkowski, a Republican Senator from Alaska, became the sole undecided vote.
“I have come to the conclusion that there will be no fair trial in the Senate,” said Murkowski of her eventual ‘no’. “I don’t believe the continuation of this process will change anything. It is sad for me to admit that, as an institution, the Congress has failed.”
Many Senate Republicans have been critical of the proceedings, and have decided to stand with the President.
The final impeachment vote on Wednesday, February 5, marks the end of the third presidential impeachment trial. To remove the President from office, Democrats would need 67 votes, 16 more than they received on Friday.
Eric Ueland, White House aide, said that the President was grateful that the Senate would move to acquit him “as quickly as possible”, and promised that the trial would not interfere with the President’s State of the Union address on Tuesday. The final vote in President Trump’s impeachment trial will occur Wednesday, after the President’s State of the Union address on Wednesday.
