Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA
Senators held a second day of speeches on Tuesday in advance of a vote on Wednesday afternoon on whether to convict Donald Trump on two articles of impeachment. Here are five key takeaways:
No clear defections – yet
With about half of the 100 senators having spoken as of early Tuesday evening, none made a clear break with his or her party. Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia was the sole speaker to leave in doubt how he would vote, blasting Trump’s conduct while questioning the wisdom of removal.
On Tuesday afternoon, Republican Susan Collins, who earlier had voted in favor of considering witnesses at the trial, announced she would vote to acquit on both articles of impeachment. “I do not believe that the House has met its burden in showing that the president’s conduct, however flawed, warrants the extreme step of removal from office,” she said.
Potentially defecting senators from whom we have not yet heard include Republican Mitt Romney of Utah and Democrats Doug Jones of Alabama and Kyrsten Sinema of Arizona. An out-of-reach two-thirds majority of voting senators would be needed for acquittal. The Republicans hold a 53-seat majority in the Senate.
Trump hits approval high
A Gallup poll published on Tuesday indicated Trump was at or near an approval high, with 49% overall approval and 94% approval among Republicans. Trump’s average approval remains in the low 40s.
Trump touted the numbers on Tuesday – offering false and inflated approval numbers:
My Approval Rating in the Republican Party = 95%, a record! Big Iowa win. Approval Rating overall = 53%, a new high. With our great Economy and other major successes, would be 20 points higher without the phony Witch Hunts and Hoaxes???
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 4, 2020
Democrats blast Republican ‘cover-up’
“The Republicans refused to get the evidence because they were afraid of what it would show,” said the minority leader, Chuck Schumer, in a speech on the floor. “And that’s all that needs to be said.”
.@SenSchumer: "It's a serious charge. The Republicans refused to get the evidence because they were afraid of what it would show. And that's all that needs to be said." pic.twitter.com/i5Tvmf602b
— CSPAN (@cspan) February 4, 2020
Paul uses name tied to whistleblower on Senate floor
In a reprise of a previous controversy at the trial, Republican Rand Paul of Kentucky appeared on the Senate floor on Tuesday with a placard bearing the text of a question he had attempted to ask last week, only to have the question refused by the supreme court chief justice, John Roberts, who is presiding.
The question included a name that reports have associated with the whistleblower whose August complaint set the impeachment inquiry in motion. Republicans have sought to take pressure off Trump by attacking the whistleblower as a partisan, despite federal laws protecting whistleblowers from retribution.
What’s next
Following Trump’s State of the Union speech on Tuesday tonight, the senators will resume their impeachment speeches on Wednesday morning. Then at 4pm, Roberts is scheduled to return to the chamber to reconvene the impeachment court. The majority leader, Mitch McConnell, was expected immediately to call a vote on the first article of impeachment, with a second vote to follow.
Should Trump be acquitted as expected, the impeachment trial will adjourn and the process will conclude.
