Seven Republicans voted to convict former President Donald Trump for inciting January 6 Capitol Hill violence in his Senate trial on February 13. This is the largest number of lawmakers to ever vote to find a president of their own party guilty at impeachment proceedings.
While lawmakers acquitted Trump of inciting the Capitol attack, they voted 57-43 to convict him — short of the two-thirds majority needed to find him guilty. The seven senators are likely to face backlash from other Republicans.
A number of Republicans have also distanced themselves from the former president and are lining up to take their own shot at the White House in 2024.
Here are the seven GOP leaders who voted to convict Trump:
Richard Burr of North Carolina
Burr, a Trump critic, previously announced that he would not run for re-election in the 2022 election.
"The president bears responsibility for these tragic events. The evidence is compelling that President Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection against a co-equal branch of government, and that the charge rises to the level of high crimes and misdemeanours. Therefore, I have voted to convict," Burr said in a statement after the trial.
Bill Cassidy of Louisiana
A Senator since 2015, Cassidy just won re-election and will not face voters again until 2026.
In a video statement, Cassidy said, “Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty."Our Constitution and our country is more important than any one person. I voted to convict President Trump because he is guilty. pic.twitter.com/ute0xPc4BH
— U.S. Senator Bill Cassidy, M.D. (@SenBillCassidy) February 13, 2021
Susan Collins of Maine
Collins had voted to acquit Trump at his first impeachment trial. However, this time she voted to convict.
"My vote in this trial stems from my own oath and duty to defend the Constitution of the United States. The abuse of power and betrayal of his oath by President Trump meet the constitutional standard of 'high crimes and misdemeanour,' and for those reasons, I voted to convict Donald J. Trump," Collins said in a three-page statement.
Lisa Murkowski of Alaska
Murkowski, a senator since 2002, is up for re-election in 2022. She had earlier criticised Trump’s actions before and during the Capitol violence.
"If I can’t say what I believe that our president should stand for, then why should I ask Alaskans to stand with me?” Murkowski said after the trial.
Mitt Romney of Utah
Romney’s “guilty” vote at Trump’s initial impeachment trial in February 2020 made him the first senator to ever vote to convict a president of the same party.
Issuing a statement on the trial, Romney said, “After careful consideration of the respective counsels’ arguments, I have concluded that President Trump is guilty of the charge made by the House of Representatives. President Trump attempted to corrupt the election by pressuring the Secretary of State of Georgia to falsify the election results in his state."
He further said that President Trump incited the insurrection against Congress by using the power of his office to summon his supporters to Washington on January 6th and urging them to march on the Capitol during the counting of electoral votes.
"President Trump also violated his oath of office by failing to protect the Capitol, the Vice President, and others in the Capitol," the Utah Senator added.
Ben Sasse of Nebraska
Sasse has long criticised Trump’s authoritarian streak. In a statement explaining, Sasse condemned Trump for falsely claiming he won the 2020 election by a landslide and for spreading conspiracy theories about voter fraud.
“Tribalism is a hell of a drug, but our oath to the Constitution means we’re constrained to the facts," Sasse said, as per a Bloomberg report. He further said that he will not vote against his own conscience “simply because it is politically convenient.”
Pat Toomey of Pennsylvania
Toomey had come out quickly against Trump’s efforts to overturn the results in his state and to encourage his supporters' march on the Capitol.
"He urged the mob to march on the Capitol for the explicit purpose of preventing Congress and the Vice President from formally certifying the results of the presidential election. All of this to hold on to power despite having legitimately lost," Toomey said.
His betrayal of the Constitution and his oath of office required conviction.
— Senator Pat Toomey (@SenToomey) February 13, 2021
He said that because of Trump's actions, “for the first time in American history, the transfer of presidential power was not peaceful" and said Trump had “betrayed the confidence millions of us placed in him."
"His betrayal of the Constitution and his oath of office required conviction," Toomey added.