The last 2 Democratic Senate holdouts vote to convict Trump
It won't change the course of the Senate trial's outcome, but the Democrats wound up sticking together during Wednesday's vote.
The last two holdouts among Democratic senators, Sens. Joe Manchin (D-W.V.) and Kyrsten Sinema (D-Ariz.), decided they had seen enough to convict President Trump on both abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Manchin was seen as an especially likely candidate to possibly give Trump a bipartisan acquittal, but he said, in the end, he "reluctantly" reached the conclusion that the evidence brought forth by the House impeachment managers "clearly supports the charges brought against he president."
Sinema, like Manchin, is considered a moderate member of the Democratic Party, but she too said it was "clear" Trump withheld aid from Ukraine to "benefit" his re-election chances, which she argued is "dangerous to the fundamental principles of American democracy."
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.
Ultimately, it was the Republican Party that fractured, if ever so slightly, with Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah) voting to convict on the abuse of power article, making it the first time there's ever been a bipartisan vote to remove a president from office, even though the attempt failed.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
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.
-
Inside a Black community’s fight against Elon Musk’s supercomputerUnder the radar Pollution from Colossal looms over a small Southern town, potentially exacerbating health concerns
-
Codeword: December 4, 2025The daily codeword puzzle from The Week
-
Crossword: December 4, 2025The daily crossword from The Week
-
GOP wins tight House race in red Tennessee districtSpeed Read Republicans maintained their advantage in the House
-
Trump targets ‘garbage’ Somalis ahead of ICE raidsSpeed Read The Department of Homeland Security will launch an immigration operation targeting Somali immigrants in the Minneapolis-St. Paul area
-
Hegseth blames ‘fog of war’ for potential war crimespeed read ‘I did not personally see survivors,’ Hegseth said at a Cabinet meeting
-
Canada joins EU’s $170B SAFE defense fundspeed read This makes it the first non-European Union country in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) initiative
-
Appeals court disqualifies US Attorney Alina HabbaSpeed Read The former personal attorney to President Donald Trump has been unlawfully serving as US attorney for New Jersey, the ruling says
-
White House says admiral ordered potential war crimeSpeed Read The Trump administration claims Navy Vice Adm. Frank ‘Mitch’ Bradley ordered a follow-up strike on an alleged drug-smuggling boat, not Pete Hegseth
-
Honduras votes amid Trump push, pardon vowspeed read President Trump said he will pardon former Honduran president Juan Orlando Hernández, who is serving 45 years for drug trafficking
-
Congress seeks answers in ‘kill everybody’ strike reportSpeed Read Lawmakers suggest the Trump administration’s follow-up boat strike may be a war crime
