Senate Democrats are reportedly growing 'giddy' about making endangered Republicans vote on impeachment

last updated 30 September 2019

There's always a "but."

Most congressional Democrats are insisting that the prospect of impeaching and trying President Trump is about doing the right thing for the country, but there may be a long-term political strategy involved, as well. Some Senate Democrats are "growing increasingly giddy" about the possibility of several of their Republican colleagues reckoning with Trump's behavior, Politico reports. They'll have to either acquit or convict him if the upper chamber does eventually try him following a House vote to impeach. The giddy Democrats are surely eyeing the several vulnerable GOP seats opening up next year, which could make the vote even more fateful.

For example, Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.) said "we need to do the right thing regardless of who's benefiting," before, Politico reports, she mentioned that she's aware of the potentially vulnerable seats and the subsequent chance for the Democrats to take back the Senate. "If I were them in many of the states where people are running, I certainly would, politically, be concerned about taking that vote," Stabenow said.

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Senate Minority Whip Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) agreed, adding that an impeachment trial could be "a very problematic vote in a lot of states" because "public sentiment has shifted" in favor of an impeachment inquiry. Republicans like Sen. Thom Tillis (N.C.), however, have remained defiant so far, telling Politico it's "not a hard vote" and so far feels like nothing more than a Democratic "political exercise." Read more at Politico.

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Tim is a staff writer at The Week and has contributed to Bedford and Bowery and The New York Transatlantic. He is a graduate of Occidental College and NYU's journalism school. Tim enjoys writing about baseball, Europe, and extinct megafauna. He lives in New York City.