If President Donald Trump is impeached, the result is widely believed to be a foregone conclusion: Republicans in the Senate will refuse to remove him. And there are indeed massive obstacles to conviction — 20 Republicans would have to defect and vote with Democrats.
But according to Politico, for now at least, Republicans are refusing to publicly prejudge how they will rule — as are Democrats.
“It’s important not to prejudge until we have the entire picture,” said Sen. Susan Collins (R-ME). “I am very likely to be a juror so to make a predetermined decision on whether or not to convict a president of the United States does not fulfill one’s constitutional responsibilities." And Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN) said that potential jurors like himself shouldn’t be "running around announcing their decision until they’ve heard the arguments."
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) concurs with this sentiment. "We’re jurors," he said. "We can push as hard as we can to get all the facts out but ... we should wait until we see all the facts to make a determination."
This attitude tacks with the findings of the conservative Daily Caller, which reached out to all 53 Republican senators and found only seven who would definitively say they will vote to acquit Trump. All others either declined comment or said they were waiting to hear the evidence at trial.
At this point, the conviction vote in the Senate — should it occur — is still likely to break along party lines. But for now, senators in both parties are publicly taking their role as jurors seriously — and not tipping their hand.
