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Interesting, right? After all, there's no question that there's a decent-sized chunk of people who have voted for and supported Republicans in the past but were alienated by Trump's behavior in office.

As is often the case with talk of possible new political parties, however, there's less than meets the eye. Here's why:

1. The Republican Party already fought this fight in 2016. The anti-Trump crowd, which ultimately became every candidate in the GOP primary field other than Trump, lost. And lost badly. Just ask Marco Rubio. And Jeb Bush. And Lindsey Graham. And Rand Paul. And Ted Cruz. And Chris Christie. And Ben Carson.

2. There's no leader for this movement. Voters rally around candidates, not political parties. Barack Obama appealed to people, first and foremost, because he was Barack Obama. Not because he was a Democrat. Same for Trump, who, prior to running in 2016, was at best loosely affiliated with the Republican Party. Who is the face of this proposed new party or new faction? Ben Sasse? John Kasich? Liz Cheney? Larry Hogan? Adam Kinzinger? Mitt Romney? Lisa Murkowski? You get the idea. Way too many cooks.

The Point: The idea of a non-Trump Republican Party undoubtedly appeals to plenty of GOP establishment types. The problem? There just aren't enough of them in the party for such a move to succeed.

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3 reasons why a 'center right' party will never work - CNN

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, is re-introducing two anti-abortion bills, one aimed at taking away federal funding from Planned Parenthood and another that would define life as beginning at conception.Paul said in a statement Friday that he was re-introducing the legislation in honor of the annual March for Life, a rally and march that protests the legality of abortion around the same time the country marks the anniversary of Roe V. Wade.The Kentucky U.S. senator previously introduced the bills in 2019, but they went nowhere.One of Paul's bills seeks to bar federal dollars from going to organizations that perform abortions, including Planned Parenthood. The Defund Planned Parenthood Act is cosponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Mike Braun, John Kennedy, Roger Marshall, Mike Rounds and Thom Tillis.Paul's other bill, the Life at Conception Act, would extend 14th Amendment protections to the fetus' in all stages of development. The bill would do this by defining life as beginning at conception.The 14th Amendment states that all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. will not be deprived of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."Some of the same U.S. senators who signed onto Paul's Defund Planned Parenthood Act also signed onto the Life at Conception Act."Our nation cannot expect to fully protect and maintain our other rights if we do not respect the fundamental right to life even starting in the womb," Paul said in a statement. Click here for more information on the two bills.

U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, of Kentucky, is re-introducing two anti-abortion bills, one aimed at taking away federal funding from Planned Parenthood and another that would define life as beginning at conception.

Paul said in a statement Friday that he was re-introducing the legislation in honor of the annual March for Life, a rally and march that protests the legality of abortion around the same time the country marks the anniversary of Roe V. Wade.

The Kentucky U.S. senator previously introduced the bills in 2019, but they went nowhere.

One of Paul's bills seeks to bar federal dollars from going to organizations that perform abortions, including Planned Parenthood. The Defund Planned Parenthood Act is cosponsored by Sens. Marsha Blackburn, Mike Braun, John Kennedy, Roger Marshall, Mike Rounds and Thom Tillis.

Paul's other bill, the Life at Conception Act, would extend 14th Amendment protections to the fetus' in all stages of development. The bill would do this by defining life as beginning at conception.

The 14th Amendment states that all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. will not be deprived of "life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

Some of the same U.S. senators who signed onto Paul's Defund Planned Parenthood Act also signed onto the Life at Conception Act.

"Our nation cannot expect to fully protect and maintain our other rights if we do not respect the fundamental right to life even starting in the womb," Paul said in a statement.

Click here for more information on the two bills.

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Kentucky's US Sen. Rand Paul re-introduces 2 bills aimed at limiting abortions - WLKY Louisville

Days after President Joe Biden took office and the Democrats took control of the U.S. Senate, Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., would not unequivocally say Sunday that the 2020 presidential election was not stolen and called for an investigation of fraud, without providing evidence.

"The debate over whether or not there was fraud should occur, we never had any presentation in court where we actually looked at the evidence. Most of the cases were thrown out for lack of standing, which is a procedural way of not actually hearing the question," Paul said on ABC's "This Week."

"Sen. Paul, I have to stop you there," ABC News Chief Anchor George Stephanopoulos interjected.

"No election is perfect," Stephanopoulos continued. "After investigations, counts and recounts, the Department of Justice -- led by (Trump-appointed Attorney General) William Barr -- said there's no widespread evidence of fraud. Can't you just say the words: 'This election was not stolen?'"

The Kentucky senator responded, "What I would suggest is that if we want greater confidence in our elections -- and 75% of Republicans agree with me -- is that we do need to look at election integrity."

Paul also did notacknowledge former President Donald Trump's role in sowing doubts about the election.

The majority of the court cases filed by the Trump campaign were thrown out due to lack of evidence. Across the country, secretaries of state, both Republican and Democrat,andfederal officials-- includingBarr-- haveallsaidthat there was no evidence of widespread fraud or security concerns in November's election.

When challenged by Stephanopoulos on Barr's denial of widespread fraud, Paul retorted, "He said that, yes. That was a pronouncement.There's been no examination -- thorough examination -- of all the states to see what problems we had and see if they could fix them."

"There were lots of problems and there were secretaries of state, who illegally changed the law and that needs to be fixed, and I'm going to work harder to fix it and I will not be cowed by people saying 'oh, you're a liar,'" Paul told Stephanopoulos.

Stephanopoulos responded, "I'm standing by facts. There are not two sides to facts. I did not say this was a perfect election, I said the results were certified, I said it was not stolen. It is a lie."

Sen. Rand Paul listens during the confirmation hearing oF Anthony J. Blinken to be Secretary of State before the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee at the Capitol, Jan. 19, 2021.

While Paul was one of the many Republican politicians who repeatedTrump'sunfoundedallegations of voter fraud, the Kentucky senator did not object to the certification of the Electoral College on Jan. 7and has said previously that he thinks Congress should not overturn results.

"Now, let me say to be clear, I voted to certify the state electors because I think it would be wrong for Congress to overturn that," he said.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., responded to Paul's remarks in a separate interview on "This Week."

"As I listened to Rand Paul, George, I just kept thinking, 'man, this is why Joe Biden won,'" she told Stephanopoulos.

Sen. Amy Klobuchar speaks during the inauguration of Joe Biden as the 46th President of the United States on the West Front of the Capitol, Jan. 20, 2021.

"American people right now are struggling. They need pandemic relief," Klobuchar continued. "I thoroughly believe that we can handle this impeachment trial and -- just as the American people are doing -- juggle what we need to get done.

With less than a week since Biden's swearing in, the article of impeachment against Trump is set to be delivered to the Senate Monday and the trial is expected to begin the week of Feb. 8. Senate Democrats are trying to balance the upcoming proceedings with getting more of Biden's Cabinet picks approved and pushing forward on the president's legislative agenda.

Despite earlier reports that McConnell was pleased with the House of Representatives' impeachment efforts, a growing number of conservative legal experts and Republicans in the Senate have challenged the constitutionality of holding a trial for Trump since he is no longer in office.

Some Republican senators, including Paul, have also argued that if Chief Justice John Roberts does not preside over the impeachment trial -- which remains unclear -- the hearings could be illegitimate.

Whenchallengedby Stephanopoulos aboutthose process arguments,Klobuchar said, "It is constitutional. We have precedent from way back when a secretary of war was tried after he had left office and, obviously, there's a remedy that would help in the future which would ban former President Trump from running again."

Stephanopoulos also pressed Klobuchar about whether there were enough GOP senators to vote to convict Trump.

"My colleagues have not yet committed about what they're going to do and the news we just got out of The New York Times yesterday that the president was actually actively trying to take out his own attorney general and put in an unknown bureaucrat conspiring with him. I think we're going to get more and more evidence over the next few weeks as if it's not enough that he's sent an angry mob down the Mall to invade the Capitol -- didn't try to stop it -- and a police officer was killed. I don't really know what else you need to know," the Minnesota senator added.

"Would you pursue, instead, either a censure or some kind of a resolution under the 14th Amendment to prevent President Trump from running for office again?" Stephanopoulos asked.

Klobuchar refused to rule anything out.

"We're focused on impeachment, but there are many options. Things can be looked at. But I think the thing that your viewers need to know right now, George, is that we must do many things at once," she said.

While the Senate debates the impending impeachment trial, also critical on the Democrats' agenda is passing a new coronavirus relief bill -- a key component of Biden's legislative priorities. The president is still pushing for a bipartisan arrangement, despite the fact that many in the GOP -- including moderates like Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine -- have said that the overall $1.9 trillion price tag is too expensive.

Klobuchar pushed back against arguments over the size of the bill, saying "the amount that Joe Biden has proposed, that's exactly the numbers we were talking about last summer. And at some point, the (Trump) administration was talking those numbers."

ABC News' Meg Cunningham and Kelly McCoy contributed to this report.

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Sen. Rand Paul continues making false claims of 2020 election fraud - ABC News

The Week

President Trump is planning to exit the White House on the morning of Jan. 20, a few hours before President-elect Joe Biden is sworn in a short distance away, CNN reports. "Eager for a final taste of the pomp of being president, Trump has asked for a major send-off," and "as one of their final acts, Trump's team is working to organize a crowd to see him off on the morning of Biden's inauguration, when he plans to depart Washington while still president" for a flight to Palm Beach, Florida, where his term will officially end at noon.There are 20,000 National Guard troops currently deployed or en route to Washington, D.C., ahead of Biden's inauguration, because the last crowd Trump drew to the White House morphed into an insurrectionist mob that stormed the Capitol.Plans are still being ironed out, CNN says, but "Trump told people he did not like the idea of departing Washington for a final time as an ex-president, flying aboard an airplane no longer known as Air Force One. He also did not particularly like the thought of requesting the use of the plane from Biden." The Bidens will wake up on Inauguration Day at nearby Blair House, CNN reports, adding that "its use was offered to them by the State Department rather than the Trumps, who refuse to make contact with the incoming president and first lady.""Trump has expressed interest to some in a military-style sendoff and a crowd of supporters," CNN says, but it's unclear "whether that occurs at the White House, Joint Base Andrews, or his final destination, Palm Beach International Airport."Outgoing U.S. presidents almost always attend the swearing-in of their successors, Defense One notes, and "in recent decades, the outgoing president and first lady walk down the back steps of the Capitol to an awaiting helicopter, which then makes the short five-minute flight over to Joint Base Andrews in nearby Maryland. Upon arriving at Andrews, the former president and first lady are usually greeted by a military honor guard, former staffers, friends, and other well wishers." Two senior Pentagon officials confirmed to Defense One on Thursday that, in a break with recent tradition, no military farewell is being planned for Trump.More stories from theweek.com Trump reportedly began 'choreographing' premature victory speech weeks before election 5 more scathing cartoons about Trump's 2nd impeachment GOP officials are reportedly worried controversial pro-Trump House members could run for Senate, governor

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Rand Paul Warns One Third of Republicans Will Leave Party if GOP Senators Back Impeachment - Yahoo News

U.S. House representatives in the area all Republican voted lock-step with their party against impeaching the President Donald Trump, despite last weeks insurrection at the nations Capitol.

Only 10 Republicans, including House Caucus Leader Liz Cheney, crossed party lines to vote in favor of impeaching a president who played a role in whipping a crowd into a frenzy before they laid siege to the U.S. Capitol building.

So far, five people have died as a direct result of the attack a Capitol police officer took his life in the aftermath of the attack.

None of the U.S. Representatives in the Tri-State voted in favor impeaching the president. Almost all described their reasons as wanting to move on and unify a country that has frankly been torn apart by vicious and partisan rhetoric and conspiracy theories propagated by the president.

With the exception of Ohios Bill Westrup and Kentuckys Thomas Massie, all the representatives voted in favor of objecting to the certifying the election, despite overwhelming evidence that no widespread voter fraud occurred.

Local U.S. senators, who are poised to try the president when they come back into session, were largely silent on the issue. Only Sen. Rand Paul has explicitly stated they would not vote to convict soon-to-be-former President Trump.

U.S. House statements

Kentucky

In a tweet sent at 7:44 a.m. on Wednesday, Rep. Thomas Massie, R-KY (4th District), wrote: I will vote Nay on impeachment today. I think pursuing impeachment will unnecessarily increase political division in our country and serves no real purpose.

In a statement sent to the press Wednesday, Kentucky 5th District Rep. Hal Rogers wrote: What we need in America today is hope for a united and peaceful nation, gaining strength at every corner, not another vote to divide our country from within. President Donald Trump is not our enemy and President-elect Joe Biden is not our enemy. Over the last four decades, I have served alongside six U.S. presidents, including four Republicans and two Democrats Biden will be the third. Through different administrations, I have always reached across the aisle and worked to find common ground for the good of the American people, and we need to get back to the peoples business. However, todays impeachment vote is not the way to bring Americans together.

West Virginia

Carol Miller, the Republican congresswoman of the Third District, wrote in a statement: America is in desperate need of healing and unity, not further division. President Trump will be leaving office in one week. That is why I voted today not to impeach President Trump. Many of my colleagues will join me in opposing impeachment, and many of my colleagues will support impeachment. While we may disagree on this issue and others, every single member of the House of Representatives wants the same thing for our constituents and our nation a safe, free and prosperous country. We might disagree on how we achieve those goals, but our shared values are stronger than our disagreements. Every member, regardless of their vote today or in the future, deserves the respect due to any individual to serve the public to the best of their ability.

Ohio

Ben Westrup, Republican from Ohios Second District wrote: Investigations into the tragic events of January 6th are still ongoing. The facts of the day have not been fully uncovered. However, it is already clear that many came to Washington, D.C., prepared for violence before any words were spoken at the morning rally. It would be prudent to wait for all of the facts to come to light if we are to properly evaluate the gravity of the situation. If Members of Congress want to build a serious and credible case against President Trump, they should wait until we have a complete, factual understanding of what transpired. Given these concerns and limitations, I cannot support this impeachment that is markedly short of due process.

Bill Johnson, R-Ohio 6th, released a statement on Tuesdays vote to pressure Vice President Mike Pence into invoking the 25th Amendment to remove Trump from office: Today, America needs a chance to begin healing. America needs a break from the riots, the violence and the vitriol political rhetoric that is encouraging this toxic environment.A 25th Amendment measure or impeachment will do nothing to help America heal, but will certainly widen the division. And, to intentionally further alienate tens of millions of Americans with raw nerves who already feel alienated economically and culturally by Americas political, corporate, academic and media elites is both reckless and potentially further destabilizing.

U.S. Senate statements

Kentucky

Sen. Mitch McConell did not indicate howd he vote when the articles of impeachment move to the U.S. Senate. However, as the Senate Majority leader, he did release a statement explaining why he has declined to call the Senate back early to take up the article:

Given the rules, procedures, and Senate precedents that govern presidential impeachment trials, there is simply no chance that a fair or serious trial could conclude before President-elect Biden is sworn in next week. The Senate has held three presidential impeachment trials. They have lasted 83 days, 37 days and 21 days, respectively.

Even if the Senate process were to begin this week and move promptly, no final verdict would be reached until after President Trump had left office. This is not a decision I am making; it is a fact. The President-elect himself stated last week that his inauguration on Jan. 20 is the quickest path for any change in the occupant of the presidency.

In light of this reality, I believe it will best serve our nation if Congress and the executive branch spend the next seven days completely focused on facilitating a safe inauguration and an orderly transfer of power to the incoming Biden Administration. I am grateful to the offices and institutions within the Capitol that are working around the clock, alongside federal and local law enforcement, to prepare for a safe and successful inauguration at the Capitol next Wednesday.

Sen. Rand Paul has not released a formal statement, but he did tell WDRB on Jan. 11, "Theres been a justified rebuke of what happened, and the whole electoral college debacle, and the mob and everything else," he said. "I dont think theres any escaping that. But I think its best for the country to try to move on."

West Virginia

Sen. Shelly Moore Capito, a Republican from West Virginia, has not released any statement regarding impeachment. However, she did lay blame at the Presidents feet for the Capitol insurrection in an interview with WV MetroNews Talkline:

I did support the president, and I did support the policies and I think the policies were good for West Virginia. But this is inexcusable.

Sen. Joe Manchin, a Democratic centrist and a frequent swing vote on close measures, had asked House Democrats to pump the brakes on impeaching the president, stating he didnt believe there were enough votes to convict in the Senate.

"I think this is so ill-advised forJoe Bidento be coming in, trying to heal the country, trying to be the president of all the people when we are going to be so divided and fighting again. Let the judicial system do its job. Manchin is quoted in The Hill.

Manchin has also told the press that he believes Trump committed impeachable conduct.

Ohio

U.S. Rob Portman, a noted centerist Republican, issued the following statement: As I said yesterday, the attack on the U.S. Capitol was an attack on democracy itself, and the president bears some responsibility for what occurred. It was important that the president clearly stated today that violence of any kind is unacceptable.

Today the House voted to impeach the president for his role in the events of Jan. 6. If the Senate proceeds with an impeachment trial, I will do my duty as a juror and listen to the cases presented by both sides.

President-elect Biden has rightly said he wants to set a new tone of greater unity as his administration begins. All of us should be concerned about the polarization in our country and work toward bringing people together. If the Senate conducts an impeachment trial, among my considerations will be what is best to help heal our country rather than deepen our divisions.

U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, a Democrat, has not offered recent statements regarding impeachment. However, he did call on Pence to invoke the 25th Amendment: Domestic terrorists attacked our seat of government, at the behest of the President of the United States. This was his last, desperate attempt to overturn the will of the American voters, but he failed, and democracy won. We must hold the president accountable for inciting this attack on our country. The cabinet and vice president should immediately invoke the 25th Amendment to remove him from office, to prevent him from doing more damage between now and Inauguration Day.

(606) 326-2653 |

henry@dailyindependent.com

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Representatives, senators weigh in on impeachment - The Independent