Former President Donald Trump faces his second impeachment trial in the Senate on Feb. 9, when lawmakers will begin the process of considering whether to convict him on a charge of incitement of insurrection following the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol.
Trump was impeached by the House last month while still in office, the first president ever to be impeached twice. It was a largely party-line vote, but 10 Republicans also joined Democrats in condemning the president for stoking violence.
Unlike his last impeachment trial before the Senate in 2020, when he faced charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, this trial comes weeks after the end of his term, another first. Most Senate Republicans voted not to proceed with the trial because they view it as unconstitutional to try Trump once no longer in office, but that motion failed in a 55-45 vote. Democrats have a razor thin majority in the Senate, giving them the power to push forward with the trial and on their terms, but they will need to win over some Republicans in order to convict Trump, which requires a two-thirds majority vote.
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