28 senators who were in Congress for Clinton’s impeachment, and how they voted then

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Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell talks to reporters in the hallways of the US Capitol Building during the Senate Impeachment Trial of Bill Clinton on Jan. 9, 1999.David Hume Kennerly / Getty

Very few will be able to say they voted in the impeachment of two presidents.

Of the senators who will decide whether to convict President Donald Trump in his impeachment trial, 28 were also in Congress when former President Bill Clinton was impeached in 1998.

Clinton was acquitted. Congress voted largely on party lines, except for two Republicans – Sen. Susan Collins, who voted “not guilty” for both impeachment articles, and Sen. Richard Shelby, who voted “guilty” on one and “not guilty” on the other. The partisan divide looks likely to be the same this time.

Sen. Lindsey Graham, who was in the House at the time, even served as an impeachment manager prosecuting Clinton.

These are the 28 current senators who were in Congress during Clinton’s impeachment, and what they did then.


Republican Sen. Susan Collins was a senator. She voted “not guilty” for both impeachment articles. She didn’t think what he’d done amounted to high crimes and misdemeanors. During Clinton’s trial she also called for more evidence and witnesses to ensure the trial was fair.

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Sen. Susan Collins of Maine.Alex Wong/Getty Images

Sources: CBS News, The New York Times, Washington Post


Republican Sen. Michael Crapo was a member of the House at the beginning of the Clinton’s impeachment. He voted to impeach Clinton and then became a senator before the trial. He voted “guilty” for both impeachment articles.

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Chairman of the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee Mike Crapo (R-ID) hearing listens to testimony from Federal Reserve Chairman Janet Yellen on the “Semiannual Monetary Policy Report to the Congress” on Capitol Hill in Washington, U.S., February 14, 2017.REUTERS/Joshua Roberts

Source: The Lewiston Tribune, Washington Post


Republican Sen. Lindsey Graham was in the House, and served as an impeachment manager prosecuting the president. Graham voted to impeach Clinton, and urged Democrats to resist prematurely making up their minds. “People have made up their mind in a political fashion that will hurt this country long term,” he said.

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Sen. Lindsey GrahamChip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Sources: Washington Post, Salon, CBS News


Democrat Sen. Dianne Feinstein was a senator. She voted “not guilty” for both impeachment articles. She also made it clear she didn’t condone his behavior. “I do not defend it. And I do not accept it. The conduct at the heart of the charges is deplorable,” she said. After he was acquitted she pushed to censure Clinton, but the Senate didn’t back it.

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Sen. Dianne Feinstein on Capitol Hill in Washington, in 2017.Kevin Lamarque/Reuters

Sources: Los Angeles Times, SF Gate


Republican Sen. Mitch McConnell, now the Senate majority leader, was a senator. He voted “guilty” for both impeachment articles. He said the White House had tried to orchestrate a smear campaign against Republicans, and he asked the Senate floor, “Will we pursue the search for truth or will we dodge, weave and evade the truth?”

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Mitch McConnell.Drew Angerer/Getty Images

Source: Washington Post


Democrat Sen. Bernie Sanders was a member of the House. He voted against impeaching Clinton. He also said the proceedings were a waste of resources, and a distraction from the challenges America should have been dealing with.

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Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) speaks at the NAN Conference, April 5, 2019 in New York City.Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Sources: Washington Post, C-Span


Democrat Sen. Chuck Schumer was a senator. He voted “not guilty” to both impeachment articles. He wrote a letter to Clinton before he was acquitted, saying he was “shaken” that Clinton might be removed because of the whims of a political group who hated him and wanted to “exploit the institutions of freedom.”

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Senate Minority Leader Charles Schumer (D-NY) talks to reporters following his party’s weekly policy luncheon at the U.S. Capitol May 16, 2017 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Sources: CNN, New York Post


Republican Sen. Roy Blunt, who is now the Senate Rules Chairman, was a member of the House. He voted to impeach Clinton.

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Senator Roy Blunt (R-MO) speaks to the media following their weekly policy luncheon on April 30, 2019 in Washington, DC.Pete Marovich/Getty

Sources: RollCall, CBS News


Democrat Sen. Sherrod Brown was a member of the House. He voted against impeaching Clinton and said he should be censured instead.

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Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH) speaks at the NAN Conference on April 5, 2019 in New York City.Hollis Johnson/Business Insider

Source: The Columbus Dispatch


Republican Sen. Richard Burr was a member of the House. He voted to impeach Clinton and made it clear where he thought power should be. “The United States is a nation of laws, not men,” he said. “And I do not believe we can ignore the facts or disregard the constitution so that the president can be placed above the law.”

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Sen. Richard Burr.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Source: The Guardian


Democrat Sen. Benjamin Cardin was a member the House. He voted against impeaching Clinton, but also clarified his vote wasn’t because he was “rallying around the president.” He told reporters one portion of Democrats were “outraged” by the impeachment, while the other half were “somewhat in bewilderment” that it was classed an impeachable offense.

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Source: CBS News, The New York Times


Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin was a senator. He voted “not guilty” for both impeachment articles.

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Source: The New York Times


Republican Sen. Mike Enzi was one year into his first term as a senator. He voted “guilty” for both impeachment articles.

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Sources: AJC, Laramie Live


Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley, now the Senate president pro tempore, was a senator then, too. He voted “guilty” for both impeachment articles. He said the “true tragedy” was the loss of the president’s moral authority. “He undermined himself when he wagged his finger and lied to the nation on national TV,” he said.

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Sen. Chuck Grassley.Alex Wong/Getty Images

Source: The New York Times


Republican Sen. James Inhofe was also a senator then. He voted “guilty” on both impeachment articles. He said not having all of the witnesses in Clinton’s impeachment would be “shirking our constitutional duty.” He said he didn’t think calling witnesses in Trump’s trial was necessary.

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Sources: The Hill, NewsWeek


Democrat Sen. Patrick Leahy was a senator. He voted “not guilty” for both impeachment articles. Despite the vote, he didn’t hold back when Clinton called him up before the impeachment. To his wife’s horror, he said he told Clinton, “You’re a fool! You’re a damn, damn, damn fool!”

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Source: The New York Times


Democrat Sen. Ed Markey was a member of the House. He voted against impeaching Clinton. Like Feinstein, he also urged Clinton be censured. During proceedings, he said, “GOP used to stand for Grand Old Party. Now it just stands for Get Our President.”

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Source: NEPR


Democrat Sen. Robert Menendez was a member of the House. He voted against impeaching Clinton. He asked Republicans where their sense of fairness was, and added, “Monica Lewinsky is not Watergate. Let he who has no sin in this chamber cast the first stone.”

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Bob Menendez.Aaron P. Bernstein/Getty Images

Source: CNN


Republican Sen. Jerry Moran was in the House. He voted to impeach Clinton. He said he chose to be “on the side that says no person is above the law; that this is a nation of laws, not men; that telling the truth matters; and that we should expect our public officials to conduct themselves in compliance with the highest ethical standards.”

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Source: Washington Post


Democrat Sen. Patty Murray was a senator. She voted “not guilty” for both impeachment articles. She then set out how angry and dismayed she was with Clinton. “I trusted him. I thought I knew him. I refused to believe he would demean the presidency in the way that he has. His behavior was appalling and has hurt us all,” she said in a statement.

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Source: CNN


Republican Sen. Rob Portman was a member of the House. He voted to impeach Clinton. He said he was “particularly troubled” by Clinton’s lying under oath, and he called on him to resign.

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Sources: The Columbus Dispatch, Washington Post


Democrat Sen. Jack Reed was a senator. He voted “not guilty” for both impeachment articles. He was also against allowing new witnesses into Clinton’s trial, saying that it would lead to lawyers taking over, and cause the trial to take on a “life of its own.”

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Sen. Jack Reed talks about bipartisan legislation to create ‘red flag’ gun laws during a news conference at the U.S. Capitol March 22, 2018 in Washington, DC.Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Sources: CNN, Washington Post


Republican Sen. Pat Roberts was a senator. He voted “guilty” for both impeachment articles. “I believe an open-minded individual applying Kansas common sense would reach the conclusion that I reached,” he said.

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Source: CBS News


Republican Sen. John Thune was a member of the House. He voted to impeach Clinton. “Either he has a reckless contempt for the truth, or he can’t discern the truth from lies,” he said. “In either case, that’s a miserable commentary on the elected leader of the free world.”

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Source: Washington Post


Republican Sen. Roger Wicker was a member of the House. He voted to impeach Clinton.

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Source: Daily Journal


Democrat Sen. Ron Wyden was a senator. He voted “not guilty” for both impeachment articles. In his statement he called for the end of “toxic partisanship.”

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Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) in Washington, DC, in November 2017.Aaron P. Bernstein/Reuters

Sources: CNN, CBS News


Republican Sen. Richard Shelby was a senator. He had switched to the Republican Party in 1994. He voted “guilty” for the obstruction of justice article, and “not guilty” for the perjury article.

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Source: CNN, Washington Post


Democrat Sen. Debbie Stabenow was a member of the House. She voted against impeaching Clinton and also wanted to censure him instead.

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Source: Michigan Radio


Also, 55 members of the House of Representatives who are still in office were there for Clinton’s impeachment.

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Independent counsel Ken Starr (C) raising hand, swearing-in before House Judiciary Committee, testifying in impeachment inquiry against Pres. Clinton in Capitol Hill committee room panorama.Terry Ashe/The LIFE Images Collection / Getty

These Republicans voted to impeach Clinton:

And these Democrats voted not to impeach Clinton:

Source: Business Insider