Twelve Republicans joined all Senate Democrats in the vote to essentially move forward with a trial.
The second motion asked senators to exclude evidence from before Paxton’s current term. That motion struck at the heart of one of Paxton’s main arguments — that he cannot be impeached for any actions he allegedly took before he was reelected last year.
The House impeached Paxton in May, alleging a yearslong pattern of lawbreaking and misconduct. He was immediately suspended from his job and the Senate trial, which started at 9 a.m. Tuesday, will determine whether he is permanently removed from office. There were two dozen pretrial motions. A simple majority is required to approve any pretrial motions, and Paxton’s team challenged all articles of impeachment both individually and altogether. Under trial rules, the presiding officer, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick can rule on them unilaterally but has to put them to a Senate vote if they would lead to dismissal of any articles. A simply majority vote is required for those motions.
If the Senate proceeds to a trial, a two-thirds vote is required to convict Paxton. That means that if all 12 Democrats vote to convict, half the remaining 18 Republican with a vote have to join them. Paxton's wife, Sen. Angela Paxton, is disqualified from voting but allowed to attend the trial., happening Sept. 21-23 in Austin. Explore the program featuring more than 100 unforgettable conversations coming to TribFest.
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