Guilty or Not Guilty H.Res. 24
The Senate voted to acquit President Trump of the impeachment that charged him with a pattern of “efforts to subvert and obstruct” the completion of the 2020 election and “inciting violence,” referring to the January 6, 2021 attack on the U.S. Capitol that sought to prevent Congress from determining that Trump had lost the election.
Normally, once the Senate determines that an impeached official is guilty of the charges, the official is removed from office. However Senate Republicans, who at the time held a majority of Senate seats, declined to immediately begin the trial of the impeachment charges. After President Trump’s term ended and Democrats took a majority of Senate seats, the Senate began its trial. Some senators voting to acquit said their decision was based on their view that the Constitution does not permit convicting an official after they have left office. The question to convict was not moot, however, as a convicted official can be barred by the Senate from holding office again in a subsequent vote. It would also not have been the first time the Senate held a trial for an official who had already left office.
Although a simple majority of senators voted to convict, conviction requires a two-thirds majority.
This vote was related to a resolution introduced by Rep. David Cicilline [D-RI1] on January 11, 2021, H.Res. 24: Impeaching Donald John Trump, President of the United States, for high crimes and misdemeanors..
Totals
| All Votes | Republicans | Democrats | Independents | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Guilty | 57% |
57
|
7
|
48
|
2
|
| Not Guilty | 43% |
43
|
43
|
0
|
0
|
Not Guilty. 2/3 Required. Source: senate.gov.
The Guilty votes represented 62% of the country’s population by apportioning each state’s population to its voting senators.
Ideology Vote Chart
Vote Details
“Aye” and “Yea” mean the same thing, and so do “No” and “Nay”. Congress uses different words in different sorts of votes.
The U.S. Constitution says that bills should be decided on by the “yeas and nays” (Article I, Section 7). Congress takes this literally and uses “yea” and “nay” when voting on the final passage of bills.
All Senate votes use these words. But the House of Representatives uses “Aye” and “No” in other sorts of votes.
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Statistically notable votes are the votes that are most surprising, or least predictable, given how other members of each voter’s party voted and other factors.
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Study Guide
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You can find answers to most of the questions below here on the vote page. For a guide to understanding the resolution this vote was about, see here.
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Not all votes are meant to pass legislation. In the Senate some votes are not about legislation at all, since the Senate must vote to confirm presidential nominations to certain federal positions.
This vote is related to a resolution. However, that doesn’t necessarily tell you what it is about. Congress makes many decisions in the process of passing legislation, such as on the procedures for debating the resolution, whether to change the resolution before voting on passage, and even whether to vote on passage at all.
You can learn more about the various motions used in Congress at EveryCRSReport.com. If you aren’t sure what the Senate was voting on, try seeing if it’s on this list.
Take a look at where this resolution is in the legislative process. What might come next? Keep in mind what this specific vote was on, and the context of the resolution. Will there be amendments? Will the other chamber of Congress vote on it, or let it die?
For this question it may help to briefly examine the resolution itself.
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- How did your senators vote?
- How much of the United States population is represented by the yeas?
Members of Congress side together for many reasons beside being in the same political party, especially so for less prominent legislation or legislation specific to a certain region. What might have determined how the roll call came out in this case? Does it look like Members of Congress voted based on party, geography, or some other reason?
There are two votes here that should be more important to you than all the others. These are the votes cast by your senators, which are meant to represent you and your community. Do you agree with how your senators voted? Why do you think they voted the way they did?
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GovTrack displays the percentage of the United States population represented by the yeas on some Senate votes just under the vote totals. We do this to highlight how the people of the United States are represented in the Senate. Since each state has two senators, but state populations vary significantly, the individuals living in each state have different Senate representation. For example, California’s population of near 40 million is given the same number of senators as Wyoming’s population of about 600,000.
Do the senators who voted yea represent a majority of the people of the United States? Does it matter?
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