There are enough votes in the Senate to remove Trump from office -- but only if McConnell agrees
The story from CNN's Jim Acosta on Tuesday was that Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) is "furious" with President Donald Trump and actually "hates" him. It's a similar tale New York Times reporter Maggie Habermann reported, noting that McConnell is secretly grateful that Donald Trump is being impeached again.
But the full CNN report revealed something even more significant. There are 67 votes to remove Trump from office among the Democratic and Republican Senators.
"Several GOP sources said on Tuesday that if McConnell supports conviction, Trump almost certainly will be convicted by 67 senators in the impeachment trial," said CNN.
"If Mitch is a yes, he's done," CNN cited one Senate GOP source who didn't want to be named.
That leaves one man between Trump being removed from office and Trump holding power and possibly running again in 2024.
If Trump is convicted and removed from office, even mere days ahead of being ousted from office, it isn't entirely toothless. Trump loses the presidential salary he gets for life, funds for his post-presidential office, and a slew of other presidential perks that total up to $1 million annually for security and travel.
Members could also decide whether Trump can run again in 2024. Even if those like Sens. Josh Hawley (R-MO) and Ted Cruz (R-TX) who want to run for president, vote against removing Trump from office, getting him out of the way would certainly increase their chances of winning. It certainly would position other Senators to run without having to deal with their pro-Trump impeachment vote in 2020.
It all comes down to whether Sen. Mitch McConnell will tell Senators to come back to vote and allow them to vote their conscience over the party.
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