Donald Trump’s presidency is headed for disaster as a pro-impeachment, bipartisan majority is emerging in the U.S. Senate.
While it’s always been unlikely that two-thirds of the GOP-controlled Senate will vote to remove the president from office, it’s increasingly plausible that a simple majority of members could support such a move.
It sets up the devastating possibility for Trump that he will go into an election year having been impeached by the House of Representatives, followed by a bipartisan majority of senators voting to remove him from office.
As Senior Editor for The Atlantic and former George W. Bush speechwriter David Frum said on MSNBC on Thursday, “If Lindsey Graham gets to the end of this process and he’s got 46 senators lined up (against removal), that’s really alarming (for the president).”
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Chris Matthews added, “That’s a condemning statement” if majorities in both chambers of Congress are on the record supporting the impeachment and removal of Trump.
Video:
David Frum explains how Trump’s presidency could be doomed even if the Senate doesn’t reach the two-thirds threshold for removal. #ctl #p2 pic.twitter.com/hxmWRDpVLf
— PoliticusUSA (@politicususa) October 25, 2019
Transcript:
FRUM: The game has never been about getting to two-thirds of the Senate. That’s obviously not possible. Donald Trump is not going to be removed from office by a Senate vote, barring some direct divine intervention on the minds of the Republican Senate caucus. But the question is does Donald Trump get 54, 55 votes for removal? Where is Mitt Romney? Where is Lamar Alexander?
MATTHEWS: A majority vote.
FRUM: And if Lindsey Graham gets to the end of this process and he’s got 46 senators lined up, that’s really alarming.
MATTHEWS: To them.
FRUM: So I don’t know why he’s doing this. I mean you have to have everybody there on the first day, or don’t do it.
MATTHEWS: If you get 53 votes, majority vote, Jill, objectively you have a House vote to impeach, which I think will be about 230, my guess, pretty strong vote, almost unanimous among Democrats, maybe some Republicans. And then a majority of the Republican-controlled Senate. That’s a condemning statement.
JILL COLVIN: It would be a striking blow to the president.
A pro-removal Senate majority would be devastating for Trump
It’s clear that there are plenty of votes in the House of Representatives to impeach Donald Trump. Just as clear is the fact that – barring a miracle – there aren’t enough votes in the Senate to remove the president from office.
But just because removal is unlikely to get the support of two-thirds of senators doesn’t mean it can’t get a bipartisan majority.
As David Frum noted on Thursday, Lindsey Graham only has 46 GOP senators signed onto his pointless resolution. That leaves seven Republicans – including Mitt Romney, Susan Collins and Lisa Murkowski, among others – who are still holding off.
With the impeachment inquiry likely to become more damning for Trump as the evidence piles up and public hearings begin, it’s only going to become more difficult – especially for GOP senators up for reelection – to defend the corrupt president.
That sets up the possibility that Democrats will be joined by enough Republicans in the Senate vote in favor of Donald Trump’s removal from office – an outcome that would likely doom his presidency in 2020.
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Sean Colarossi currently resides in Cleveland, Ohio. He earned his Bachelor of Arts degree in Journalism from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and was an organizing fellow for both of President Obama’s presidential campaigns. He also worked with Planned Parenthood as an Affordable Care Act Outreach Organizer in 2014, helping northeast Ohio residents obtain health insurance coverage.
