Trump impeachment vote could be litmus test for GOP senators eyeing 2024 runs

Senate Republicans who might run for president in 2024 face a career-altering vote with the decision to convict or acquit former President Donald Trump on impeachment charges he incited the siege of the U.S. Capitol Jan. 6.

At trial in the Senate, the second in 12 months to adjudicate articles of impeachment against Trump, a vote to convict risks the wrath of grassroots conservatives. The Republican base is with the 45th president and could retaliate for a conviction vote by dealing a mortal blow to any campaign for the 2024 GOP nomination if their opinion that he is not culpable for the Capitol insurrection goes unchanged during the next few years.