Sen. Lisa Murkowski told reporters Monday she agrees𒁏 with fellow Republican Sen. Lamar Alexander, who also voted not to hear witnesses at the Senate impeachment trial, that President Donald Trump acted inappropriately.
But unlike Alexander, who also said he didn’t think it rose to an impeachable offense and would vote to acquit, Murkowski did not say publicly which way she would vote Wednesday.
The Alaska senator told reporters she agreed with Alexander, of Tennessee, that it was “inappropriate” for Trump to push Ukraine to investigate Democrats.
“I would concur,” she said.
And Murkowski answered “yes” when asked if she had decided how to vote on the two articles of impeachment, but did not elaborate.
Trump’s acquittal is all but guaranteed, with at least 20 Republicans needed to reach 67 votes needed for removal from office. But any Republican defections would hurt Trump politically.
On Friday, Murkowski joined fellow swing-vote Alexander in voting against calling witnesses, giving Republicans the 51 votes needed to avoid a weeks-long extension of the trial. Just two Republicans, Sens. Susan Collins of Maine and Mitt Romn🍰ey of Utah, joined Democrats to vote for witnesses.
Alexander, who is retiring, said in a statement that Trump’s conduct was wrong but not impeachable. He wrote that he believed Democratic claims that Trump used nearly $400 million in aid to Ukraine as leverage to force an investigation of Joe Biden and his son Hunter, who worked on the board of a Ukrainian energy company.
Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) told reporters Monday he disagreed with Alexander’s assessment that Trump conditioned the aid on investigations. Kennedy said he would vote to acquit Trump.
“When I count my blessings, I count Lamar Alexander twice. He’s one of the finest people I’ve ever met,” Kennedy said. “But I don’t agree with him that the prosecution has made its case.”
Some Democrats, m𒆙eanwhile, suggested they are still undecided.
“We’ve still got some time. We’ve still got some work to do,” said Sen. Bob Casey (D-Pa.).
Sen. Doug Jones (R-Ala.) said he would have more “conversations with my colleagues.”
The Capitol largely returned to normal after the hig🐽h-stakes Friday vote on witnesses. About an hour before the Senate resumed the trial for closing arguments at 11 a.m. Monday, just two reporters waited for senators at the basement subway that leads to Senate office buildings. Days earlier the ꦑzone resembled a New York subway station at rush hour.
A final vote in Trump’s impeachment trial will happen Wednesday after Trump’s Tuesday night State of the Union speech to both chambers of Congress. The White House says it’s preparing a “positive” and “unifying” speech despite the trial.
Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-N.D.) told reporters he wasn’t sure how the annual address would unfold. “That’s one of the things that’s magical about Donald Trump: he’ll be Donald Trump for sure,” Cramer said.