Republicans admit nothing will change their mind on constitutionality of Trump's impeachment
Former President Donald Trump's second impeachment trial started Tuesday with arguments over whether it's constitutional to impeach a former president in the first place. But even after a four-hour debate on the subject, the Senate's vote on the subject is likely to remain unchanged.
House impeachment managers got the first crack at the question Tuesday afternoon, claiming that finding the impeachment of a former official unconstitutional would give them an excuse to do whatever they'd like in their last weeks in office. Senate Republicans said they were impressed with the argument, with Sen. Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) telling CNN that Democrats "sent a better team" than the last Trump impeachment. But as both Wicker and Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wisc.) affirmed, there's really nothing those managers can say that will change Republicans' minds on the unconstitutionality of the trial.
The Senate already took a vote last week to consider whether Trump's impeachment for incitement of insurrection was constitutional, given that his trial is happening now that he's out of office. Forty-five Republicans voted that it was unconstitutional, providing a prediction on how they'll vote Tuesday when posed with the same question.
Subscribe to 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.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Judge blocks Louisiana 10 Commandments law
Speed Read U.S. District Judge John deGravelles ruled that a law ordering schools to display the Ten Commandments in classrooms was unconstitutional
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
ATF finalizes rule to close 'gun show loophole'
Speed Read Biden moves to expand background checks for gun buyers
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Hong Kong passes tough new security law
Speed Read It will allow the government to further suppress all forms of dissent
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
France enshrines abortion rights in constitution
speed read It became the first country to make abortion a constitutional right
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Texas executes man despite contested evidence
Speed Read Texas rejected calls for a rehearing of Ivan Cantu's case amid recanted testimony and allegations of suppressed exculpatory evidence
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Supreme Court wary of state social media regulations
Speed Read A majority of justices appeared skeptical that Texas and Florida were lawfully protecting the free speech rights of users
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Greece legalizes same-sex marriage
Speed Read Greece becomes the first Orthodox Christian country to enshrine marriage equality in law
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Trump and his lawyer Alina Habba have a rough day in defamation court
Speed Read Trump's audible grousing as E. Jean Carroll testified earned him a warning he could be thrown out of court, and Habba showed she 'doesn't know what the hell she's doing'
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published