Prior to the Senate’s vote on whether to remove Donald Trump from office, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney announced that he would vote to convict the president on abuse of power.
This decision makes Romney the only Republican who said he would vote to convict Trump, NBC News reports. Romney shared his stance in a speech on the Senate floor, stating that he would convict the president for abuse of power and acquit on the obstruction of Congress charge. The senator was one of only two GOP senators to ask for witness testimony during the trial.
“I swore an oath before God to exercise impartial justice,” he said. “I am profoundly religious. My faith is at the heart of who I am,” adding that he believed Trump was “guilty of an appalling abuse of public trust.”
Sixty-seven votes are needed to convict on each of the two articles of impeachment, and though a handful of Republicans have said they think Trump acted inappropriately in his business relations with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, no Republicans have said they believe his behavior was impeachable.
On Wednesday, the Republican chairwoman, Ronna McDaniel responded to Romney’s comments, writing, This is not the first time I have disagreed with Mitt, and I imagine it will not be the last.” She continued, “The bottom line is President Trump did nothing wrong, and the Republican Party is more united than ever behind him.”
The historic vote to convict Trump on two articles of impeachment takes place on Feb. 5 at 4 p.m. ET.
