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."
Article continues belowThe 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.
