Mitch McConnell is telling GOP senators their decision on a Trump impeachment trial conviction is a 'vote of conscience' https://t.co/tzuXEyD8ap by @tomlobianco ($) in @Politicsinsider
"His message to me was this would clearly be a vote of conscience," Sen. Kevin Cramer, a North Dakota Republican, told @Politicsinsider "He's always been respectful of members that way."
Cramer, a former House Republican & early supporter of Trump who stuck w/ him through his 1 term in office, said that he doesn't want to vote to convict Trump. But he said he might be open to voting in favor of barring Trump from serving in office again after last week's attack.
Such a vote to permanently end Trump's federal government career requires just a simple majority but would only happen should two-thirds of the Senate vote to convict Trump. That has never before occurred to a president in more than 230 years of US history.
The domestic attack on the Capitol has lawmakers from both parties rattled ahead of Biden's inauguration, where about 20,000 National Guard troops have set up camp in and around the nation's seat of legislative power.