Senate votes that Trump impeachment trial is constitutional
WASHINGTON — After a widely panned opening-day performance by the legal team of former President Donald Trump, the Senate voted Tuesday that the Constitution allows for his impeachment trial to proceed for actions he committed while in office.
The 56-44 vote clears the path for up to four days of arguments on whether Trump should be convicted for inciting the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. House impeachment managers begin their case Wednesday.
The first day of the nation’s fourth presidential impeachment trial was dominated by the question of whether the proceeding was constitutional, since Trump is no longer in office.
House Democrats argued that the Constitution gives the Senate authority to hold the trial of a former president because he is being tried for crimes allegedly committed while in office and because the House impeached him during his term. Trump’s lawyers, Bruce L. Castor Jr. and David Schoen, argued that a
