Democratic swing vote Joe Manchin calls for the Senate to censure Trump for his Ukraine conduct, squeezing moderate Republicans into a corner
- Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia called on Monday for the Senate to censure President Donald Trump for his conduct toward Ukraine.
- Manchin is widely viewed as a Democratic swing vote in the Senate and is known to be friendly with Trump.
- His move is unlikely to gain traction, but it could squeeze Republicans who have been critical of the president -but reluctant to condemn him outright - into a corner.
- Those senators include: Mitt Romney of Utah, Lamar Alexander of Tennessee, Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, Susan Collins of Maine, Rob Portman of Ohio, Ben Sasse of Nebraska, Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania, Chuck Grassley of Illinois, and Joni Ernst of Iowa.
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Sen. Joe Manchin of West Virginia called on Monday for the Senate to censure President Donald Trump for his conduct toward Ukraine.
Manchin, a Democratic senator who represents a deep-red state, is widely viewed as a swing vote in the upper chamber and is known to be friendly with the president. The Washington Post reported last month that the White House has been courting Manchin as it looks for at least one Senate Democrat to vote against convicting Trump and removing him from office following a bruising impeachment process.
The Democratic-led House of Representatives impeached Trump in December for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress. Both articles of impeachment relate to Trump's efforts to strong-arm Ukraine into delivering politically motivated investigations targeting former Vice President Joe Bide and the Democratic Party.
While doing so, Trump withheld nearly $400 million in military aid and dangled a White House meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky desperately wants and still hasn't gotten.
The House Intelligence Committee, which oversaw the impeachment inquiry, heard from more than a dozen witnesses who testified about their knowledge of Trump's actions, which included deploying his own agents to carry out his agenda in Ukraine while leveraging official US foreign policy to force Zelensky to cave to his political demands.
House impeachment managers, who acted as prosecutors in Trump's Senate trial, and the president's defense lawyers wrapped up their closing arguments on Monday after the Senate blocked a vote to call new witnesses or seek additional documents.
A final vote on whether to convict or acquit Trump is scheduled for Wednesday. Two-thirds of the Senate, or 67 senators, need to vote in favor of conviction to trigger Trump's removal from office. Given that the Senate is currently controlled by Republicans, who hold 53 seats, it's highly unlikely the upper chamber will reach that threshold.
Manchin's motion, meanwhile, is also unlikely to gain traction because of how divided Democrats and Republicans are on removing Trump. Democratic senators have largely come out in favor of convicting him and ousting him, while Republican senators maintain that he did nothing wrong, despite the hours of witness testimony, documents, and Trump's own statements in which he admitted to soliciting foreign interference in the upcoming election for his personal benefit.
But Manchin's motion may squeeze some Republican senators who have been critical of Trump - but reluctant to condemn him outright - into a corner.
Sens. Lamar Alexander and Lisa Murkowski, for instance, both acknowledged that the president acted inappropriately. Alexander said Trump's conduct doesn't rise to the level of an impeachable offense, and Murkowski announced she will announce her decision on whether to convict or acquit Trump later Monday.
Other Republican senators have also voiced their disapproval of the president, and it's possible Manchin's move could put them on the spot.
Those senators are:
- Mitt Romney of Utah
- Susan Collins of Maine
- Rob Portman of Ohio
- Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
- Joni Ernst of Iowa
- Ben Sasse of Nebraska
- Chuck Grassley of Illinois