Senate Majority Votes Impeachment Trial Against Trump is Constitutional

The first day of the Senate impeachment trial against President Trump wrapped up last night and here were the key takeaways: The trial kicked off with the House Democratic managers delivering their opening argument. It started with a graphic 13-minute video of footage from the January 6th insurrection on the Capitol building that was spliced with clips from the “Stop the Steal” speech the president gave earlier that day. When it was the defense team’s turn to address the Senators, Attorney Bruce Castor gave a meandering, off the cuff speech that lasted for over an hour. They’re opening statement has received bipartisan confusion and criticism. After the first round of arguments, a vote was held to determine the constitutionality of the proceedings. It was passed in a 56 to 44 vote. Last week, five Republicans indicated they would vote in favor of holding the trial. One more Republican, Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana, has now flipped to side with them. While this seems like a win for Democrats, they still have a long road ahead if they hope to secure the 67 votes needed to impeach.