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Watch Live: Senate vote on final Trump impeachment verdict

Posted at 10:34 AM, Feb 05, 2020
and last updated 2020-02-05 12:34:46-05

The Senate is set to issue a verdict in President Trump's impeachment trial with a vote that is all but certain to end in his acquittal Wednesday afternoon, bringing the monthslong impeachment saga to a close.

Senators will resume delivering speeches to explain their votes Wednesday morning ahead of the 4 p.m. vote. The upper chamber's 47 Democrats will fall far short of the 67 votes needed to convict the president on the two articles of impeachment, but the final tally for acquittal remains an open question.

Click here to watch the vote live

One of the Republican senators who was thought to be open to voting to convict was Senator Susan Collins, but on Tuesday she said House impeachment managers had failed to show the president committed a high crime or misdemeanor warranting removal from office. Collins told the "CBS Evening News" she thought Mr. Trump had learned "a pretty big lesson" from impeachment and would vote to acquit.

A handful of other senators have kept their intentions close to their chest. Republican Mitt Romney of Utah voted with Democrats in a failed effort to allow new witnesses and documents, but has yet to reveal how he plans to vote on a verdict. Democrat Joe Manchin of West Virginia said on the Senate floor on Monday that he remained undecided and was struggling with the choice.

Senators have 10 minutes each throughout the day to explain themselves ahead of the afternoon vote.