Which Republican senators supported the 2020 impeachment trial conviction or any 2021/2025 post-presidency impeachment efforts?
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Executive summary
Seven Republican senators voted to convict Donald Trump in the February 2021 Senate impeachment vote on incitement of insurrection; five Republicans earlier voted to allow the Senate to proceed with a post‑presidency trial (motion to proceed 55–45) [1] [2]. Mitt Romney was the lone Republican who voted to convict during Trump’s first impeachment trial in February 2020 and was one of the Republicans who supported proceeding in 2021 [3] [4].
1. A short list of Republican senators who broke with the party in 2020–2021
During the first impeachment (Ukraine, early 2020) Sen. Mitt Romney was the only Republican senator to vote guilty on the abuse‑of‑power article and was one of the GOP senators willing to call witnesses during the trial [3] [4]. In the second impeachment process (post‑Jan. 6, 2021) five Republicans joined Democrats and independents to vote that the Senate could constitutionally hold a trial of a former president: Susan Collins, Lisa Murkowski, Mitt Romney, Ben Sasse and Pat Toomey [1]. Ultimately seven Republicans voted to convict at the end of that trial; sources in the dataset note the total number (seven) though individual names are listed across reporting [2] [1].
2. Numbers that matter: how votes split and what was needed
The 2021 conviction vote was 57–43 in favor of conviction, 10 votes short of the two‑thirds required for conviction and removal; that tally included seven Republican votes to convict [2]. Earlier procedural votes showed narrower GOP defections: a 55–45 vote allowed the Senate to proceed with the trial after Trump left office, the motion carried with five Republicans joining Democrats [1].
3. Context: why some Republicans crossed party lines
Public statements and reporting show those GOP senators who broke with the majority cited concerns about the conduct leading to Jan. 6 and the need to hold the former president accountable or to preserve constitutional norms; others framed their votes as narrowly procedural (allowing a trial) rather than an outright judgment on guilt [5] [6]. During the first impeachment, Romney had previously criticized Trump’s actions and said he would judge based on evidence, which helps explain his cross‑party vote in 2020 [3] [7].
4. Political consequences and party dynamics
Reports described intense backlash from Trump‑aligned party activists and officials toward the Republicans who voted to convict, and noted that most of those senators faced strong pressure at home — several were not up for immediate reelection or later left the Senate — highlighting the political cost of breaking with Trump’s base [8]. At the same time, Republican leadership generally rallied against post‑presidency impeachment proceedings, framing constitutional and jurisdictional objections and insisting the Senate should not try a former president [2] [9].
5. Post‑2021 and 2025 efforts: divergent reporting and claims
Sources in this collection show attempts and calls by various individuals and some lawmakers in 2025 to pursue impeachment or introduce articles, and one compilation claims a number of Republican senators had “indicated a willingness to take action” in mid‑2025; Wikipedia‑style summaries report "12 Republican senators had individually indicated a willingness to take action" in that context [10]. Independent fact‑checking reporting, however, found viral claims that a group of Republican senators supported new impeachments of President Trump lacked credible evidence and rated those claims false, saying "none have said they support impeachment for any new offense" as of that fact‑check [11].
6. How to read the sources and their limits
Contemporary coverage in this dataset mixes authoritative roll‑call reporting (vote counts and named senators) with secondary summaries and contested claims. The clearest, most consistent facts—who voted and the vote totals—are documented in roll‑call and major news summaries [4] [1] [2]. Broader statements about GOP willingness to impeach in 2025 rely on compilations and at least one Wikipedia summary [10] and are contradicted by a fact‑check that found no credible reporting of GOP senators supporting a new impeachment effort [11]. Available sources do not mention a definitive, current list of Republican senators openly supporting any 2025 post‑presidency impeachment that has moved beyond proposals or advocacy outside Congress (not found in current reporting).
7. Bottom line for readers
The concrete record is simple: Romney voted to convict during the first impeachment and was among the five GOP senators who allowed a post‑presidency trial to proceed in 2021; seven Republicans voted to convict in the final 2021 disposition [3] [1] [2]. Claims that a larger bloc of Republican senators now supports fresh impeachment efforts in 2025 are contested by fact‑checking and rely on fragmentary sources; those claims are not substantiated by the reporting cited here [11] [10].