Mitch McConnell remains undecided on Trump conviction despite vote to say trial is unconstitutional

Mr McConnell's actions are a clear departure from his handling of Mr Trump's last impeachment trial

Longtime establishment Republican and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is reportedly still undecided on whether to vote to convict former President Donald Trump, despite twice voting against the constitutionality of the impeachment trial.

After the Democratic House impeachment managers were praised and Trump's defence team slammed for their performances, the Senate voted 56 to 44 that the trial is in line with the Constitution, with six Republicans voting with Democrats.

Mr McConnell, who has been in the Senate since 1985, signalled once again that the vote on whether to convict Mr Trump is a conscience vote for Republicans, which means there won't be any pressure put on by the Senate Republican leadership. Part of Mr McConnell's thought process is that members of his party who voted to dismiss the trial can still vote to convict Mr Trump, Bloomberg News reported.

Ten House Republicans voted to impeach Mr Trump on 13 January.

Mr McConnell's actions are a clear departure from his handling of Mr Trump's last impeachment trial. Ahead of the first trial, Mr McConnell said in December 2019: "I'm not an impartial juror. This is a political process. There's not anything judicial about it. The House made a partisan political decision to impeach. I would anticipate we will have a largely partisan outcome in the Senate. I'm not impartial about this at all."

Read more: Follow live updates on Trump's second impeachment trial

Despite Mr McConnell keeping the door to conviction open, the likelihood that the Senate reaches the two-thirds majority necessary is almost nonexistent. 17 Republicans would have to vote with the entire 50-vote strong Democratic caucus to reach that threshold.

On 2 February, Mr McConnell told reporters: “We’re all going to listen to what the lawyers have to say and making the arguments and work our way through it.”

Despite compelling arguments by the House impeachment managers and poor performances by the Trump defence lawyers, only 6 Republicans voted with the Democrats, making it seem unlikely that 17 of them would cross the aisle to get a conviction across the finish line.