Joe Manchin III

The greatest rebukes of Donald Trump’s presidency from the Republican side of the aisle have come from the two previous standard-bearers for the GOP.

When Utah Sen. Mitt Romney, a freshman senator best known for being the 2012 Republican nominee for president, announced Wednesday on the Senate floor that he would vote to convict Trump of abuse of power, it evoked memories of the time when the late Arizona Sen. John McCain voted in 2017 to thwart the president’s desired repeal of the 2010 health care law.

The State of the Union came and went on Tuesday, and will soon be overtaken with news of the expected acquittal of President Donald Trump in the Senate on Wednesday. 

Amid some remarkable, and some small moments, CQ Roll Call's photojournalists were there. 

Updated 4:38 p.m.

A day after President Donald Trump presented what amounted to a summary of how he’ll campaign for reelection, the Senate voted down both articles of impeachment against the president.

Updated 4:3o p.m.

Senators are taking to the Senate floor to explain their vote on President Donald Trump’s impeachment Tuesday and others will get their turn until they cast it Wednesday afternoon.

Attorneys for both sides in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump on Monday wrapped up their arguments with pleas for bipartisanship ahead of the Wednesday vote to acquit the president.

After House Democrats rehashed their well-known arguments for convicting the president on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress, lead House manager Adam B. Schiff of California called on Senate Republicans to have the courage to remove Trump from office.

Senators used their second and final day of questioning in the impeachment trial of President Donald Trump to tee up debate on whether to subpoena documents and witnesses that did not appear during the House’s inquiry. The late-night announcement that Tennessee Republican Lamar Alexander will vote against additional witnesses Friday signals there likely won’t be enough votes to continue the trial much longer. 

After senators exhausted their cumulative 16-hour Q&A session with House managers and Trump’s lawyers, Alexander, who will retire at the end of this term, announced he would vote against hearing from new witnesses.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell stood up to send a question to President Donald Trump’s defense team around 6:45 p.m. Thursday, but first he suggested an upcoming 45-minute break for dinner.

Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr., instead of his usual response of “without objection,” changed it to a phrase that resonated with the haggard senators and others in the chamber. “I’m sure there’s no objection,” Roberts said, causing a murmur of laughter to spread even to the page delivering the paper card with McConnell’s question to the rostrum.

Mississippi Republican Roger Wicker approached a member of President Donald Trump’s legal team on the floor Wednesday and loudly asked: “You’re not packing up to leave, are you?”

Former Harvard University law professor Alan Dershowitz had gathered a small crowd of Republican senators around the desk of Mike Lee of Utah during the dinner break, and Wicker wanted to elbow in when the impeachment trial restarted.

Updated 7:30 p.m.

Sen. Chris Van Hollen announced plans to introduce a motion to require the chief justice to subpoena documents and witnesses if he determines they are relevant to the impeachment articles, and to exercise his authority to rule on evidence issues like executive privilege.

Senate Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer of New York sat still at his desk as President Donald Trump’s defense team played a montage of decades-old statements from Democrats regarding Bill Clinton’s impeachment.

It ended with a clip of Schumer, then a House member, warning against the dangers of partisan impeachment.