Archive for the ‘Republicans’ Category

Does Biden Really Think Republicans Will Work With Him? And Could He Be Right? – FiveThirtyEight

President-elect Joe Biden, who will assume the presidency at 12 p.m. Eastern tomorrow, has been absolutely consistent about this.

There was the time last year, early in his presidential campaign, when Joe Biden said at an event in New Hampshire that, with Donald Trump out of the White House not a joke you will see an epiphany occur among many of my Republican friends.

Just last month, Biden, in a conference call with supporters of his campaign, said, I may eat these words, but I predict to you: As Donald Trumps shadow fades away, youre going to see an awful lot change among Republicans.

And just last week, only days after President Trumps supporters had invaded the U.S. Capitol in a violent attempt to stop the final approval of Bidens victory by any means necessary, the former vice president gave a speech laying out his economic agenda in which he said, Unity is not a pie-in-the-sky dream, it is a practical step to getting things done.

So, is Biden crazy? Is he simply overly optimistic?

[Related: How Trump Changed America]

Recent history says so. From 2009 through 2016, the last time the nation had a Democratic president, the Republican Party intensely opposed virtually every part of then-President Obamas agenda, culminating in the GOPs refusal to even hold a hearing for Obama Supreme Court nominee Merrick Garland in 2016. Biden, of course, had a front-row seat to this GOP opposition as the vice president.

Four years later, the Republican Party appears to have drifted even further away from any interest in being, or ability to be, a loyal opposition party. Most Republicans in Congress supported efforts to disqualify legitimate election results in Arizona and Pennsylvania, continuing a two-month long campaign by Trump and many in the GOP to overturn Bidens victory in the 2020 election. And Senate Republicans, while they were less likely to contest the election results, have broken with precedent and refused to hold hearings for Bidens Cabinet nominees before he takes office.

So its worth exploring three different possibilities in terms of Bidens rhetoric about working with Republicans:

Biden aides and other Democrats arent committing to a single interpretation of the president elects bipartisanship comments. They are suggesting both that Biden truly believes some Republicans will work with him but that he is also preparing to push forward on his agenda without them.

So this is a bit of an open question as he begins his presidency. Lets look at all three possibilities:

I dont think that congressional Republicans will be more likely to work with Biden than they were with Obama simply because Biden is white. The deep antipathy towards Obama among GOP voters and GOP officials was connected in some ways to him being Black, but as we have seen in the last few weeks, there is plenty of resistance in the GOP base to a Biden presidency. (And partisan politics nowadays is deeply intertwined with race no matter the politician.) Nor do I think Bidens long tenure in the Senate (1973-2009) matters much only about a dozen members of the current GOP bloc in the Senate served with Biden.

But there are at least two reasons to think that Republicans will try to work with Biden or at least, work with him more than they did Obama. First of all, on Cabinet nominations and judgeships, Democrats already have the votes they need, since those require only a simple majority in the Senate. So I think its likely that since Republicans cant block these picks anyway there will be a group of Republicans who vote for some of Bidens would-be federal judges and Cabinet members, particularly if they are not known for being very liberal. A Republican senator who wants to present himself as reasonable would have every incentive to vote for, for example, the relatively non-controversial Janet Yellen as Treasury Secretary. Sen. Mitch McConnell, who led the opposition to Garlands Supreme Court nomination, has reportedly told Biden that he will vote for Garland to become Attorney General.

[Bidens Team And Priorities Show How The Democratic Party Changed In The Trump Era]

This is not a particularly important element of bipartisanship Republicans providing extra votes for people who would be confirmed anyway. But I would assume Biden will cite these kinds of votes as examples of him bringing unity to Washington if some Republicans do come on board for his Cabinet or judicial nominations.

Secondly, the COVID-19 pandemic, with thousands of people dying from the virus daily, is a much bigger and more serious issue than anything that happened in the Obama years. So perhaps some Republicans put party lines aside to help Biden and the country deal with the pandemic. After all, there were several bipartisan COVID-19 relief bills passed last year with Trump as president but Democrats in control of the House.

The context of the pandemic and the needs of their constituents may lead Republicans to be willing to work with Biden and the Democrats on vaccine and pandemic recovery legislation even if they oppose the levels of spending proposed by Biden, said Laurel Harbridge-Yong, a political science professor at Northwestern University who studies Congress.

Also, politics may be changing on the right in a way that pushes some Republicans toward working with Biden on COVID-19 in particular. Republicans used to talk a big game about reining in the federal budget deficit while never really doing anything about it. But in the Trump era, some prominent Republicans, including Trump himself and Sen. Josh Hawley of Missouri, have basically dropped the pretense that they really care about keeping the deficit low. That pretense seems to already be returning with a Democrat poised to occupy the White House. But if a big part of Bidens agenda in his first year is trying to provide Americans direct financial aid to help them deal with the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19, perhaps 10 or so Republicans sign onto some of those bills, allowing them to pass without Democrats using the reconciliation process. (More on reconciliation in a bit.)

COVID relief is a great test for bipartisanship at this point. Unless youre gonna do some sort of pure infrastructure bill, is there really a big bill you can imagine thats more potentially bipartisan than this? said Matt Glassman, a congressional expert at Georgetown Universitys Government Affairs Institute.

I have no idea if the Republicans are going to bargain in good faith, he added. Like Hawley and friends should be for the $2,000 checks, but who knows if the partisan climate is such that hes just going to 180 on that stuff completely and go into total opposition mode.

Indeed, I dont think the case I just made is that strong because

This is the much safer assumption, of course: Republicans will oppose much of Bidens agenda. After all, the parties disagree fundamentally on a lot of issues, such as raising the national minimum wage to $15 per hour, which Biden is proposing in his new economic stimulus bill but Republicans oppose. Secondly, even on issues where the parties in theory could reconcile their policy differences, it might be smarter electorally for Republicans to oppose whatever Biden proposes, try to drive up his disapproval ratings and use him as foil in the midterms. Thats basically the story of the last four midterm elections 2006, 2010, 2014, 2018. The party that didnt hold the presidency won a lot of House seats after spending the previous two years constantly attacking the incumbent president and his agenda.

Republicans benefit politically from manufacturing gridlock, said Adam Jentleson, who was a top adviser to then-Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid during the Obama presidency. They only need to win one seat to take back the Senate in 2022, and all of their incentives point to making Democrats look bad so they can reclaim the majority. The narrowness of the Democrats majority increases Republicans incentive to obstruct, said Jentleson, who is the author of a new book called Kill Switch: The Rise of the Modern Senate that chronicles some of the ways that McConnell and other Republicans limited the policy goals of Obama and Biden.

Leah Greenberg, co-director of a progressive activist group called the Indivisible Project, pointed to another huge barrier to congressional Republicans working with Biden: They are worried about being defeated in GOP primaries. For the first year of Bidens term, Republican senators will be looking over their shoulders for primary challengers just as much as theyre worrying about the general election, Greenberg said.

[Related: Even Though Biden Won, Republicans Enjoyed The Largest Electoral College Edge In 70 Years. Will That Last?]

Shouldnt Biden already know that Republican cooperation is a long shot? I would not be so sure. The political instincts of Biden and his team have been rightly praised over the last two years as the former vice president won the Democratic primary in part by resisting the leftward lurch of the party and then pulled off the somewhat rare feat of defeating an incumbent president. But we also have plenty of reasons to doubt Bidens political acumen: his first two terrible presidential campaigns in 1988 and 2008; his vote for the Iraq War; his dismal finishes in Iowa and New Hampshire during the 2020 primaries despite being the frontrunner and former vice president; and the fact that he stopped the day before Novembers general election in Ohio, where he ended up losing by 8 percentage points.

Back in 2012, Biden (and Obama) were confidently suggesting that the oppositional fever among Republicans would break if Obama and Biden were elected for a second term. They were both totally wrong, of course. Democrats who are more progressive than Biden are deeply concerned that the new president will spend a lot of time fruitlessly trying to get congressional Republicans to sign onto his proposals, as opposed to pushing his agenda in ways that only require the support of Democratic lawmakers.

I tend to think this third possibility is closest to the truth: Biden is being more optimistic about the prospects of bipartisanship in his public statements than he truly believes and is fully prepared to govern facing basically unified GOP opposition.

What makes me think this? Well, first of all, even if Biden was (and likely still is) somewhat overly confident about both his ability to cut deals and the GOPs desire to work with him, he is also taking actions that would line up with a one-party governing strategy. He campaigned hard for Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, whose wins in Georgia gave Democrats control of the Senate. Even before he takes office, Biden has rolled out a stimulus proposal that seems more aimed at trying to boost the economy, help people who are struggling economically and fund Democratic Party priorities than appeasing Republicans, who unsurprisingly balked at the $1.9 trillion price tag of the proposal. Congressional Democrats are already talking about passing this bill through the so-called reconciliation process, by which they would need only a simple majority in the Senate and thus no GOP votes.

[The Final Two Months of Trumps Presidency Were The Most Important Ones]

So why all the talk about unity and bipartisanship? For two reasons. First, its a fairly normal thing for a president to do. American politics has been deeply polarized by party for at least the last four presidencies (Bill Clinton, George W. Bush, Obama and Trump.) But Trump was the only one of those four presidents who regularly spoke of blue states and red states himself and generally seemed fairly uninterested in trying to rise above that polarization. In other words, of course Biden isnt starting his term by announcing that basically half of the members of Congress will never support anything he does!

Secondly, polls suggest that voters, particularly independents, want Biden and other politicians to seek agreements across party lines. For example, in a Pew Research Center poll conducted earlier this month, 74 percent of Americans said that Biden should try as best he can to work with the congressional GOP leaders to accomplish things, even if it means disappointing some of his own voters, compared to just 24 percent who said Biden should, stand up to GOP leaders on issues important to his voters, even if its harder to address critical problems facing the country. (Its not surprising that a lot of Americans dont want a president to be more partisan and therefore not address critical issues, so the phrasing of this question is not ideal.)

So it makes sense that Biden, as the electoral and political leader of the Democratic Party, is using rhetoric that sells with voters.

Heres the thing: Its not totally clear that Biden truly believing that he can work with Republicans versus faking that belief matters that much in terms of governing. Lets say Biden is slightly overly confident about his ability to work with Republicans but also correctly assesses that there is some political value in talking about bipartisanship. Lets also say that he is also conscious that Republicans might not go along with his agenda and therefore planning an alternative course. He might, say, roll out a big stimulus plan, publicly talk about getting some Republicans behind it and privately pursue their votes but, at the same time be ready to move forward with a Democrats-only strategy for passing it. That is exactly what he is doing.

In other words, expect to see Biden continue to talk about the value of bipartisanship even if he doesnt manage to get much of it.

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Does Biden Really Think Republicans Will Work With Him? And Could He Be Right? - FiveThirtyEight

Rep. Perry helped Trump in plot to oust acting attorney general – Business Insider – Business Insider

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Republican Rep. Scott Perry helped former President Donald Trump plot to oust acting Attorney General Jeffrey Rosen so he could place a loyalist who would help him overturn the election, The New York Times reported Saturday evening.

Perry introduced Trump to Jeffrey Clark, the Justice Department lawyer who was working with the ex-president to find ways to stir up doubts about the election results. Rosen had not cooperated with Trump's alleged plan, prompting him to consider replacing him with Clark.

Trump reportedly only backed down from his plan to fire Rosen after top leaders at the department threatened to resign. The former president was worried that news of several Justice Department leaders resigning all at once would take the spotlight away from his baseless voter fraud claims.

Perry, a little-known member of the House was one of several Republicans giving Trump false hope that he could overturn the election results. But, as The Times reported, Trump's reliance on him highlights just how desperate he was to change the outcome, as many senior Republicans refused to go along with his claims.

Clark and Perry reportedly hatched the plan to have the department send Georgia officials a letter that falsely said the department was investigating the state for voter fraud and that they should overturn Biden's win. They also told Trump of this idea. But Rosen and deputy attorney general, Richard Donoghue denied the request.

There has no proof of widespread voter fraud in the 2020 election. Trump and Republican allies lost several dozen lawsuitsattempting to overturn election results.

Read more:SCOOP: Trump taps his former chief of staff and impeachment lawyers as the gatekeepers to his papers during his post-presidency

Trump's unfounded claims of election fraud have been criticized as the spark that fueled the violent insurrection on January 6 at the US Capitol. Trump supporters breached the buildingand clashed with law enforcement, halting the joint session of Congress as lawmakers were set to formalize Biden's victory in the 2020 election. The riot lead to the deaths of five people.

The HouseimpeachedTrump on a charge of inciting an insurrection. The Senate will soon hold a trial and vote on whether to convict the former president. This is the second impeachment Trump faced in his four years in office.

Last month, The Times also reported that Perry was one of the 126 Republicans who filed a failed lawsuit to the Supreme Court to overturn the election. He also at one point objected to certifying his home state of Pennsylvania electoral votes, the Times added.

There's also been criticism towards Republican lawmakers who touted Trump's claims and even disputed the Electoral College votes. Seven Democratic senators have called for a probe into Republican Sens. Josh Hawley and Ted Cruz's role in the Capitol siege. Others have called on them to resign.

It's not yet clear what action will be taken against Perry in light of the recent revelations, but earlier in January after he faced calls to resign as a result of his support for the baseless allegations of fraud, he issued a one-word statement: "No."

Insider was unable to reach Perry for comment at the time of publication.

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Rep. Perry helped Trump in plot to oust acting attorney general - Business Insider - Business Insider

Republicans Are Already Rewriting the Trump Years – The Atlantic

Other Trump allies hoping to reclaim the mantle of respectable Republican might choose to follow the Lindsey Graham model. The senators turn from truth-telling Trump critic to loyal acolytetimed for his reelection bid last year in South Carolinaearned him a rash of savage headlines in the political press. But hes already begun his post-Trump rebrand, starting with a speech on the Senate floor after the Capitol riot earlier this month.

Trump and I, weve had a hell of a journey, Graham said in the characteristically cheerful drawl that scans to so many inside the Beltway as candor. I hate it to end this way. Oh my God, I hate it. From my point of view, hes been a consequential president. But today all I can say is, count me out. Enough is enough. Ive tried to be helpful.

Peter Wehner: Some Republicans have finally found a line they wont cross

Grahams implication was that hed cozied up to Trump only to advise him on issues of grave national importand that he was now breaking with the outgoing president on moral grounds. This version of events conveniently ignores the senators hyper-partisan defenses of Trump (he called the first impeachment a lynching in every sense), or his sycophantic sucking up (He beat me like a dog in 2016), or any number of dignity-sapping acrobatics hes performed to stay on the presidents good side. By deciding to denounce Trump after the riot, Grahamlike many of his colleaguescould try to claim that he put country before party (even if it wasnt until the final days of Trumps term).

Terry Sullivan, who ran Marco Rubios presidential campaign in 2016, told me he was unimpressed by this sudden rush to righteous indignation. The newfound outrage from former Trump supporters rings a bit hollow, given how quiet most were during Charlottesville and countless other escapades, he said. Forty-seven months of blind loyalty followed by one month of conscience doesnt earn you much more than the Mick Mulvaney profile-in-courage award.

Sullivan was less certain, though, about whether the revisionism would work. I dont expect the voters will treat them any more kindly than the historiansbut Ive been wrong before. After all, some predicted that the Republicans who worked for George W. Bush, especially the architects of the Iraq War, would be shunned once he left office. Instead, many of them have settled into respectableand lucrativeperches as commentators, lobbyists, and elder statesmen. As long as the cable-news bookers keep calling, redemption is always available.

Like many of the more high-profile figures who worked for the Trump administration, Isgur, the former Justice Department spokesperson, has spent the years since she resigned publicly repenting. She regularly criticizes the president on CNN and in The Dispatch, a publication founded by Never Trump conservatives. Last month, she published an essay in The Washington Post grappling with how she and her colleagues had obscured the reality of a Trump presidency from the public.

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Republicans Are Already Rewriting the Trump Years - The Atlantic

Daily chart – Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have heard of QAnon | Graphic detail – The Economist

Americans who have tend to hold it in an unfavourable light

Jan 19th 2021

WHO INSPIRED the mayhem at Americas Capitol on January 6th? Donald Trump played his part, invigorating his supporters before the riot with a baseless claim that Novembers presidential election was stolen. But Q, the person (or persons) behind the QAnon conspiracy theory, also bears much of the blame. The anonymous online figure, whose cryptic posts allege that Mr Trump is waging a covert war to save America from an elite cabal of cannibalistic paedophiles, had inspired an alarming number of the most prominent protesters. Among them was Jake Angeli, better known as the QAnon Shaman. On the day of the insurrection in Washington, DC, a shirtless Mr Angeli was seen wearing a fur hat adorned with horns and holding a sign saying Q sent me!

Yet QAnon is less well known in Trumpworld than might be expected. Although it is generally thought of as a far-right cultits adherents tend to hold dim views of prominent liberals such as Barack Obama and George Sorospolling from YouGov shows that Democrats are more aware of it than Republicans are (see chart). This is true even after controlling for differences in education. Still, the minority of Republicans who are familiar with QAnon seem to be much more supportive of it than their Democratic counterparts. Around 30% of those Republicans say they view the online movement favourably, compared with just 5% of Democrats. (The FBI has an opinion too. It has labelled QAnon a domestic terror threat.)

Facebook seems to be especially fertile ground for QAnon. YouGov also asked Americans where they got their news on election fraud. Around 25% of respondents who said their main source was Facebook also said they hold a favourable opinion of QAnon, against only 12% of people who mainly get their election-fraud news from Twitter. Facebooks design may be partly to blame. Its users primarily see posts from friends and other like-minded people, creating information bubbles where fringe views can spread. Twitter, by contrast, is somewhat closer to a public forum where users are exposed to diverse views from people they may not know or agree with. Social-media firms have recently cracked down on Q-Anon-related content. But purging the conspiracy theory entirely will be no easy task.

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Daily chart - Democrats are more likely than Republicans to have heard of QAnon | Graphic detail - The Economist

These Are The 10 Republicans Who Voted To Impeach Trump – NPR

Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump on Wednesday. Samuel Corum/Getty Images hide caption

Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming is one of 10 Republicans who voted to impeach President Trump on Wednesday.

Ten Republicans crossed President Trump on Wednesday and voted to impeach him for "incitement of insurrection."

It was a historic vote and one that came exactly a week after a pro-Trump mob laid siege to the U.S. Capitol after attending a Trump rally on the Ellipse outside the White House. The Capitol was ransacked and occupied for hours, and, in the end, five Americans died and many others were injured as a result.

The 10 House members who voted to impeach Trump don't cut a singular profile. They come from a range of districts, from coast to coast, some representing places Trump won handily in 2020, while others are in more moderate seats.

This vote could expose some of them to potential primary challenges from the right as well as possible safety threats, but for all of them Trump had simply gone too far. Multiple House Republicans said threats toward them and their families were factors weighing on their decisions on whether to impeach this president.

Ten out of 211 Republicans in the House is hardly an overwhelmingly bipartisan vote, and clearly, most Republicans' sympathies still lie with Trump and his ardent base of followers. But the 10 represent something significant the most members of a president's party to vote for his impeachment in U.S. history.

Here they are in order of the most pro-Trump districts:

1. Rep. Liz Cheney, Wyoming's at-large district: Trump won Wyoming 70% to 27%, and she's the third-ranking leader in the House. So for her not just to vote in favor of impeachment but also issue a stinging rebuke is quite the step. Cheney was unequivocal in her statement, saying Trump "summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack." She called what Trump did the "greatest betrayal" of a U.S. president ever.

2. Rep. Tom Rice, South Carolina's 7th Congressional District: This is one no one saw coming. The congressman, who has served since 2013, comes from a pretty pro-Trump district (Trump won it 59% to 40%), and there was no indication he would do so beforehand. Even during his vote, Twitter was alight with speculation that Rice had cast the wrong vote. Turns out, he cast it exactly as he wanted to. Later Wednesday, Rice explained: "I have backed this President through thick and thin for four years. I campaigned for him and voted for him twice. But, this utter failure is inexcusable."

3. Rep. Dan Newhouse, Washington's 4th: Trump won this central Washington state district by a handy margin, 58% to 40%. But for Newhouse, who has served since 2015 and has not been a prominent member, it was clear: "The mob was inflamed by the language and misinformation of the President of the United States. ... A vote against impeachment is a vote to validate unacceptable violence" and "to condone President Trump's inaction."

4. Rep. Adam Kinzinger, Illinois' 16th: Kinzinger's decision was probably the least surprising on this list. Despite coming from a district Trump won 57% to 41%, the Air Force veteran has been outspoken recently against Trump's behavior. He said Trump "incited this insurrection" and "if these actions the Article II branch inciting a deadly insurrection against the Article I branch are not worthy of impeachment, then what is an impeachable offense?"

5. Rep. Anthony Gonzalez, Ohio's 16th: Gonzalez, a former NFL wide receiver, is in his second term in Congress. Trump won his district by 15 points, but Gonzalez was unequivocal: Trump, he said, "helped organize and incite a mob that attacked the United States Congress in an attempt to prevent us from completing our solemn duties as prescribed by the Constitution." He added that during the attack, Trump "abandoned his post ... thus further endangering all present."

6. Rep. Fred Upton, Michigan's 6th: Upton has been in office since 1987. He comes from a district that is more moderate. Trump won it just 51% to 47%. Upton has good relationships with Democrats, including President-elect Joe Biden, and even has #WearYourMask in his Twitter bio. Upton said he would have preferred a bipartisan censure that would not interfere with the business of the next administration, "but," he said, "it is time to say enough is enough." He also cited Trump's efforts "to impede the peaceful transfer of power from one President to the next."

7. Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler, Washington's 3rd: Herrera Beutler was swept in with the Tea Party wave in 2010, but her district is a moderate one. Trump won it 51% to 47%. Herrera Beutler gained prominence several years ago for giving birth to a child three months early, born without kidneys and a rare syndrome. Her daughter, Abigail, became the first to survive the often-fatal condition. The now-mother of three and congresswoman from southwest Washington state declared on the House floor her vote in favor of impeachment: "I'm not choosing sides, I'm choosing truth."

8. Rep. Peter Meijer, Michigan's 3rd: Meijer is a freshman, who won his seat with 53% of the vote. He represents a district that was previously held by Justin Amash, the former Republican-turned-independent who voted in favor of Trump's impeachment in 2019. Meijer, a Columbia University grad who served in Afghanistan, is a social conservative in favor of restrictions on abortion rights and against restrictions on gun rights and religious freedoms. But he said Trump showed no "courage" and "betrayed millions with claims of a 'stolen election.' " He added, "The one man who could have restored order, prevented the deaths of five Americans including a Capitol police officer, and avoided the desecration of our Capitol, shrank from leadership when our country needed it most."

9. Rep. John Katko, New York's 24th: Katko is a moderate from an evenly divided moderate district. A former federal prosecutor, he said of Trump: "It cannot be ignored that President Trump encouraged this insurrection." He also noted that as the riot was happening, Trump "refused to call it off, putting countless lives in danger."

10. Rep. David Valadao, California's 21st: The Southern California congressman represents a majority-Latino district Biden won 54% to 44%. Valadao won election to this seat in 2012 before losing it in 2018 and winning it back in the fall. He's the rare case of a member of Congress who touts his willingness to work with the other party. Of his vote for impeachment, he said: "President Trump was, without question, a driving force in the catastrophic events that took place on January 6." He added, "His inciting rhetoric was un-American, abhorrent, and absolutely an impeachable offense."

The 10 who voted with Democrats to impeach Trump could give a degree of cover and open the door a little wider for Republicans in the Senate to vote to convict Trump. Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah was the sole Republican senator to vote to convict Trump in 2020.

This time, there will be more. Some Republican senators have called on Trump to resign, and even Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said he is undecided at this point.

Trump's impeachment won't lead to his removal even if he is convicted because of the timeline. The Senate is adjourned until Tuesday. The next day, Biden will be sworn in as the 46th president. But there's another penalty the Constitution allows for as a result of a Senate conviction that could be appealing to some Republican senators banning Trump from holding "office" again.

While there is some debate as to the definition of "office" in the Constitution and whether that would apply to running for president or even Congress, that kind of public rebuke would send a strong message that Republicans are ready to move on from Trumpism.

Some ambitious Republican senators have never been as on board the Trump train as the more feverish GOP members in the House, and the former might be open to convicting Trump. But their ambition cuts two ways on the one hand, voting to ban Trump opens a lane to carry the Republican mantle in 2024 and be the party's new standard-bearer, but, on the other, it has the potential to alienate many of the 74 million who voted for Trump, and whose votes they need.

It's a long shot that Trump would ultimately be convicted, because 17 Republicans would need to join Democrats to get the two-thirds majority needed for a conviction. But it's growing clearer that a majority of the Senate will vote to convict him, reflecting the number of Americans who are in favor of impeachment, disapproved of the job Trump has done and voted for his opponent in the 2020 presidential election.

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These Are The 10 Republicans Who Voted To Impeach Trump - NPR