Sen. Lisa Murkowski was one of five Republicans who joined Democrats in a procedural vote that keeps the impeachment trial of Donald Trump on track.
The others are Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, Mitt Romney of Utah, Ben Sasse of Nebraska and Patrick Toomey of Pennsylvania.
Murkowski said days after the Jan. 6 assault on the Capitol that Trump’s words incited violence and the House was right to impeach him.
Sen. Dan Sullivan voted with most Republicans on the procedural motion, supporting an argument that the case is unconstitutional because Trump has already left office.
The final tally was 55 to 45. It doesn’t bode well for the impeachment effort: Democrats would need a dozen more Republicans to break ranks to find Trump guilty.
The single impeachment article the House passed alleges Trump incited insurrection at the Capitol Jan. 6. The trial begins in earnest next month.
Liz Ruskin is the Washington, D.C., correspondent at Alaska Public Media. Reach her at lruskin@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Liz here.
