Senate voting for the impeachment of President Trump

1. How the Senate voted and the arithmetic that decided the outcome

The formal roll call published by the Senate shows the verdict as “Not Guilty” on Vote Number 59, with the motion failing to reach the 67 votes required for conviction under the Constitution’s two‑thirds rule, and official tallies recorded the outcome as an acquittal on February 13, 2021 ^{[2] [5]}. Publicly available summaries and major news outlets likewise reported that 57 senators voted to convict and 43 voted to acquit—ten votes short of the constitutional threshold—confirming the arithmetic that determined the trial’s legal end ^{[4] [6]}.

2. Who crossed party lines and why it mattered

Seven Republicans crossed party lines to vote to convict, a deviation highlighted in contemporaneous coverage and C‑SPAN’s recording of the roll call; those crossings were widely framed as a significant bipartisan rebuke even though they did not change the final legal effect ^{[3] [7]}. Analysts and some Senate statements underscored that, while symbolic and politically consequential for reputations, these votes could not overcome the structural supermajority requirement embedded in Senate impeachment procedures ^{[4] [2]}.

3. Constitutional and procedural debates that framed the Senate decision

Before the trial proceeded, the Senate voted largely along party lines to move forward with the trial, but observers noted constitutional questions about trying a former president and Senate control over trial rules—issues discussed during opening motions and in contemporaneous reporting ^{[8] [1]}. Legal scholars and senators debated whether a former official could be tried after leaving office; the Senate nonetheless determined it had authority to proceed and later voted on admissibility and subpoena motions as part of trial procedure ^{[1] [8]}.

4. Political dynamics, public opinion and the tactical context

Polling released during the trial showed a divided public, with examples cited by journalists indicating a majority of Americans favored conviction in some polls, while Republican constituencies largely opposed it—context that shaped senators’ political calculations as much as legal arguments did ^{[1] [6]}. Senate leaders and individual senators framed votes through constitutional duty, partisan loyalty, or concern about precedent, and statements from senators like Michael Bennet illustrated Democratic calls for conviction while other reporting emphasized Republican resistance to removal ^{[9] [8]}.

5. How this Senate vote fits into historical precedent

This acquittal followed an earlier Senate acquittal in Trump’s first impeachment trial in February 2020, when neither article received the two‑thirds majority needed for conviction—placing Trump among the few presidents twice impeached by the House and twice acquitted by the Senate, a historical pattern documented in congressional records and historical guides ^{[10] [5]}. The Senate’s February 13 vote thus completed the second trial’s statutory process but left unresolved the political and legal debates that animated the proceedings ^{[1] [5]}.

6. Bottom line: what the Senate vote accomplished and what it did not

The Senate vote acquitted Donald Trump because it failed to reach the two‑thirds threshold needed for conviction, ending the trial without criminal or civil penalties imposed by the legislative body, while producing a noteworthy bipartisan minority that voted to convict and signaling lasting political consequences and continuing debates about accountability, impeachment’s scope, and future norms ^{[2] [3] [4]}. Reporting and official roll calls confirm the legal result; interpretations of its political meaning remain contested across media and among lawmakers ^{[6] [11]}.