It's today then ... (Trump thread)

[PunkStep 5,998]

They need 17 Republicans, right? Apparently up to 20 are open to convicting him. 

[dopper 440]

I read on Twitter - I think it was a tweet by @JNLister- that they only have to get a 2/3 majority of everybody who votes. Anybody who chooses not to vote (e.g. Republicans who don’t want to publicly turn on Trump, but privately want him out) are not included.

 

If I’ve got that right, it could end up being way more than 2/3 in favour of convicting.

[JNLister 3,083]

That appears to be the case, though you can vote "present" which is effectively "I'm abstaining but I want it on the record" and is different to simply not voting.

One possibility is that this gets you a bit closer to 2/3 even if the official Republican position is opposition. For example, 10 Republicans voting for conviction and 10 not voting would do it.

Another possibility, which exists only in my imagination but could work for Mitch McConnell, is that he simply says there's no purpose holding a trial after Trump's left office and that Republicans should simply boycott the whole affair. That would almost certainly mean Trump is convicted and banned from future office, but McConnell can plausibly claim the establishment Republicans didn't support it.