With a vote 51-49 vote, the Senate has voted against calling new witnesses to appear before the body as impeachment proceedings continue.
#BREAKING: Senate votes against calling additional witnesses at #Trump #impeachment trial; Final vote: 51-49 (2 GOP 'yea' votes); Senate will now recess and finalize next steps, aka when they will vote on whether to acquit Trump @OKCFOX pic.twitter.com/BFda7dIzzQ
— Dan Snyder (@DanSnyderFOX25) January 31, 2020
Only two Republicans, Senators Mitt Romney (R-UT) and Susan Collins (R-ME), voted "yea" on the motion. Democrats needed at least four GOP members break rank in order to call witnesses to trial.
"There is no need for the Senate to re-open the investigation which the House Democratic majority chose to conclude and which the Managers themselves continue to describe as 'overwhelming' and 'beyond any doubt,'" announced Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY) in a statement following the vote.
"Never in Senate history has this body paused an impeachment trial to pursue additional witnesses with unresolved questions of executive privilege that would require protracted litigation."
Former Secretary of State and failed 2016 Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton also commented on the matter.
With their votes to make the American president accountable to no one, Republican senators have put the interests of one president over the interests of all Americans.
— Hillary Clinton (@HillaryClinton) January 31, 2020
The only remedy now is for us all to vote in overwhelming numbers to replace them—and him—in November.
The vote, which followed eight days of arguments and questioning on the Senate floor, also came after former national security adviser John Bolton publicly expressed that he would comply if called before the body during the impeachment trial.
"I have concluded that, if the Senate issues a subpoena for my testimony, I am prepared to testify," the former member of the Trump administration said in a statement.
Democrats = 17 Witnesses. Republicans = 0 Witnesses.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 31, 2020
Many outlets speculated that a leaked manuscript from Bolton's forthcoming book was a "bombshell" that provided confirmation that Trump was engaged in a quid-pro-quo with the Ukrainian government.
With no witnesses being called to trial, the Senate now has a number of procedural matters to attend to before a vote on whether to convict or acquit US President Donald Trump is scheduled.
The US House of Representatives voted to impeach Trump for abuse of power and obstruction of Congress on December 18, 2019, over allegations that Trump withheld military aid from Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in exchange for the announcement of an investigation into former Vice President Joe Biden and his son, Hunter Biden.
