During the impeachment proceedings against Donald Trump (House Resolution 24), Senator Rand Paul (R-Ky.) made a constitutional point of order that the “proceeding, which would try a private citizen and not a president, a vice president or civil officer, violates the Constitution.”
The Senate tabled (killed) Paul’s point of order on January 26, 2021 by a vote of 55 to 45 (Roll Call 8). We have assigned pluses to the nays because Paul’s point is constitutionally unassailable. The Constitution states, “The President, Vice President and all civil Officers of the United States, shall be removed from Office on Impeachment for, and Conviction of, Treason, Bribery, or other high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” Yet as of January 20, when Joe Biden was sworn in as president, Trump was a private citizen to whom the impeachment power does not apply.
