On Wednesday at 4 p.m. ET, the U.S. Senate will cast the final vote in President Donald Trump‘s impeachment trial. Given the historic nature of the trial, it is being aired on a number of networks, including PBS and cable news channels Fox News, MSNBC, CNN and C-SPAN, along with local stations CBS, ABC, and NBC.
The trial and final vote can also be livestreamed for free online on C-SPAN and on various YouTube channels. A number of news channels, including ABC News, CBS News, and NBC News will also be livestreaming the final vote.
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As The Philadelphia Inquirer reports, a two-thirds majority of the Senate, or 67 votes, is required to convict Trump and remove him from office, though in the Republican-controlled Senate, where the GOP holds a 53-47 majority, that outcome currently seems unlikely and it is largely expected that Trump will be acquitted on all charges. To convict, Democrats would need at least 20 Republicans to cross party lines.
The impeachment trial has been a months-long process that first began when the House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of congress on Wednesday, Dec. 18. After that vote, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi waited several weeks before sending the articles of impeachment over to the Senate, officially kick starting the contentious trial.
After hearing opening arguments on Jan. 16, the Senate, in a vote of 51-49, voted not to hear additional testimony from witnesses, with only Sens. Susan Collins and Mitt Romney crossing party lines to join Democrats in favor of the motion.
On Monday, Feb. 3, the Senate began hearing closing arguments, with House Intelligence Chairman Adam Schiff speaking directly to those continuing to stand by the president.
“History will not be kind to Donald Trump,” Schiff said, according to The Guardian. “I think we all know that. And if you find that the House has proved its case and still vote to acquit, your name will be tied to his with a cord of steel for all of history.”
“He has not changed. He will not change,” he added of Trump. “A man without character or ethical compass will never find his way.”
Meanwhile, Pat Cipollone, the lead defense lawyer, said that “the only appropriate result here is to acquit the president and to leave it to the voters to choose their president.”
Trump is only the third president in the nation’s history to be impeached by the House joining Presidents Andrew Johnson and Bill Clinton, who were both acquitted by the Senate. Meanwhile, President Richard Nixon resigned before the House had a chance to impeach him.
