Sen. Lamar Alexander's Democratic colleagues are 'disappointed' with his no-witnesses vote, see a silver lining


Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.) announced Thursday night that he will vote against calling new witnesses in President Trump's impeachment trial, but he also said Trump's actions were "inappropriate." His decision means there will likely be at most 50 votes for witnesses, and since few people think Chief Justice John Roberts would break a tie, Trump's trial is expected to come to a swift end.
Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) told CNN's Anderson Cooper he's "very disappointed" in Alexander's decision, though it appears the GOP senator "essentially said that the House case has been proven but it doesn't rise to the level of impeachment." Sen. Michael Bennet (D-Colo.) told CNN's Chris Cuomo that he's also "deeply disappointed" in Alexander's decision to allow "the first impeachment trial in history that has no witnesses at all, and it's hard to imagine that this is a fair trial under those circumstances." On the other hand, he said, it's "refreshing to hear somebody on the other side describe it as inappropriate."
Cooper's panel was less inclined to see the upside. CNN legal analyst Jeffrey Toobin said Alexander's statement was "a little baffling," and "the only thing that's clear is that he's not voting for witnesses and that he thinks the president's behavior is inappropriate. ... But, I mean, let's be clear: This means that this trial was a sham. This trial was not a trial in any meaningful sense of the word."
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
John Dean, a central figure in the Watergate impeachment scandal, said this is "not a profile in courage by Lamar" on "the most significant vote he makes in his career." Former Republican National Committee chief of staff Mike Shields disagreed, saying it's a "huge" act of courage on Alexander's part because "he's going to get eviscerated by people like you." Columnist Kirsten Powers countered that his "statement is about not wanting to hear from the person that we kept hearing we needed to hear from, so it's not a real trial, and it's not a real exoneration," and Carl Bernstein chimed in to call it "a cover-up" by Senate Republicans. Watch below. Peter Weber
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
AI workslop is muddying the American workplace
The explainer Using AI may create more work for others
-
Japan poised to get first woman prime minister
Speed Read The ruling Liberal Democratic Party elected former Economic Security Minister Sanae Takaichi
-
The 5 best mob movies of all time
The Week Recommends If you don’t like a good gangster flick, just fuhgeddaboudit
-
Judge bars Trump’s National Guard moves in Oregon
Speed Read In an emergency hearing, a federal judge blocked President Donald Trump from sending National Guard troops into Portland
-
Museum head ousted after Trump sword gift denial
Speed Read Todd Arrington, who led the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum, denied the Trump administration a sword from the collection as a gift for King Charles
-
Trump declares ‘armed conflict’ with drug cartels
speed read This provides a legal justification for recent lethal military strikes on three alleged drug trafficking boats
-
Supreme Court rules for Fed’s Cook in Trump feud
Speed Read Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook can remain in her role following Trump’s attempts to oust her
-
Judge rules Trump illegally targeted Gaza protesters
Speed Read The Trump administration’s push to arrest and deport international students for supporting Palestine is deemed illegal
-
Trump: US cities should be military ‘training grounds’
Speed Read In a hastily assembled summit, Trump said he wants the military to fight the ‘enemy within’ the US
-
US government shuts down amid health care standoff
Speed Read Democrats said they won’t vote for a deal that doesn’t renew Affordable Care Act health care subsidies
-
YouTube to pay Trump $22M over Jan. 6 expulsion
Speed Read The president accused the company of censorship following the suspension of accounts post-Capitol riot