Here Are The 7 Republicans Who Just Voted To Convict Trump - Forbes

Topline

The Senate acquitted former President Donald Trump in his second impeachment trial, but seven Republican senators broke ranks and joined with all 50 Senate Democrats to vote guilty, bucking their party and possibly drawing challenges from Trump loyalists:

Key Facts

Sen. Mitt Romney (R-Utah): A frequent Trump critic, he was the only Republican to vote to convict Trump during his first impeachment trial last year — within hours of the riot at the U.S. Capitol last month, Romney unequivocally blamed Trump for inciting the mob, and he expressed the same sentiments after his vote on Saturday (his term ends in 2024).

Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine): Collins, who is up for reelection in 2026, blamed Trump for the riots on Jan. 6: “Context was everything. Tossing a lit match into a pile of dry leaves is very different to tossing it in a pool of water,” she said on the Senate floor Saturday.

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-Alaska): Shortly after the Jan. 6 riots, Murkowski called on Trump to resign from office, telling a local newspaper “he has caused enough damage” — after voting to convict on Saturday, she said “if I can’t say what I believe our president should stand for, why should I ask Alaskans to stand with me?” (she’s up for reelection in two years).

Sen. Ben Sasse (R-Neb.): Sasse has criticized Trump in recent months, a posture that drew criticism from Nebraska Republican leaders (his term ends in 2026) — in a statement before his vote, he faulted Trump both for enflaming the riot on Jan. 6 and for spreading false conspiracy theories about voter fraud in the preceding months.

Sen. Pat Toomey (R-Penn.): Toomey, who is retiring when his term ends in two years, said he voted to convict because “a lawless attempt to retain power by a president was one of the founders’ greatest fears motivating the inclusion of the impeachment authorities in the U.S. Constitution.”

Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.): In a statement, Burr, who is not running for reelection in 2022, said the evidence that Trump incited insurrection is “compelling,” declaring “President Trump violated his oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States."

Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.): Despite voting last month that the impeachment trial was unconstitutional, Cassidy changed his mind and decided the trial was legal this week — he said in a statement “our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person,” but his vote to convict Trump caused the Louisiana GOP to censure him within hours.

Big Number

6. That’s how many Senate Republicans voted that the impeachment trial was constitutional earlier this week, rejecting Trump’s attorneys’ suggestion that the Senate doesn’t have the power to try a former president. Romney, Collins, Murkowski, Sasse and Toomey all indicated last month that they felt the trial was constitutional, and Cassidy added his name to the list this week. Burr said in a statement Saturday that, even though he believes impeaching a former president is unconstitutional, he felt the evidence against Trump was strong.

Tangent

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) voted to acquit Trump, despite weeks of media reports that McConnell was open to convicting him. He reportedly told fellow Senate Republicans to vote their conscience.

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Here Are The 7 Republicans Who Just Voted To Convict Trump - Forbes
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