The political landscape for the small group of Republicans who voted to convict Trump during his second impeachment trial has reached a critical tipping point. The recent primary defeat of Senator Bill Cassidy of Louisiana marks a significant milestone in the erosion of the anti-Trump wing within the U.S. Senate, leaving only two of the original seven dissenters still holding office.
Senator Cassidy, who joined six colleagues in 2021 to vote that Donald J. Trump had incited an insurrection, will depart Congress next year. His exit follows a primary race in which the former president campaigned aggressively against him, lining up squarely behind opponents who highlighted their loyalty to the Trump administration. With Cassidy’s departure, the ranks of those who broke party lines during the 2021 trial have shrunk to a precarious few.
Of the seven Republicans who voted to convict, only Senator Lisa Murkowski of Alaska and Senator Susan Collins of Maine remain in the Senate. While Murkowski has already secured her seat through a 2022 victory, Collins faces a high-stakes general election campaign this year, where she is currently viewed as one of the more vulnerable Republicans in the country.
This exodus—driven by a combination of primary losses, strategic retirements, and personal tragedies—reflects the enduring dominance of Donald Trump over the Republican party’s machinery. What was once a visible, if small, coalition of constitutionalist critics has largely vanished from the halls of power on Capitol Hill.
The Cost of Dissent in the Primary
For Senator Bill Cassidy, the political price of his 2021 vote became an insurmountable hurdle in Louisiana. Cassidy finished third in his primary, trailing behind Representative Julia Letlow, who received the backing of Donald Trump, and State Treasurer John Fleming. Fleming, a former congressman, leaned heavily into his previous work within the first Trump White House to secure his standing with the base.
Cassidy’s loss is the first time a member of the “convict seven” was ousted specifically through a primary challenge. While others chose to leave on their own terms, Cassidy’s defeat serves as a stark reminder of the volatility facing GOP incumbents who diverge from the former president’s narrative.
The trend began years earlier for others. Richard M. Burr of North Carolina, who also voted to convict, faced immediate backlash from his own state party. Burr was censured by the North Carolina Republican Party following his vote, a move that signaled the narrowing window for dissent within the state’s GOP apparatus before he ultimately chose not to seek re-election in 2022.
The Survivors: Murkowski and Collins
The survival of Senator Lisa Murkowski has been an anomaly in the current political climate. In 2022, Murkowski won re-election in Alaska, defeating a rival who was explicitly backed by Donald Trump. Her victory solidified her position as the only Republican senator to successfully win a re-election bid after voting to convict the former president in 2021.
Senator Susan Collins of Maine enters a different phase of the struggle. While she has avoided a primary challenger this cycle, her general election prospects remain a focal point for national strategists. Democrats have spent the campaign highlighting instances where she has backed Trump in the past, while her own team emphasizes her independent streak. According to her spokeswoman, Liz Johnson, Collins recently attended an event hosted by Senator Mitt Romney in Utah, signaling a continued alignment with the more moderate wing of the party.
To provide a clear view of the current status of the Republicans who voted to convict Trump, the following table outlines their trajectories since the 2021 trial:
| Senator | State | Current Status | Reason for Departure/Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lisa Murkowski | Alaska | In Office | Won 2022 Re-election |
| Susan Collins | Maine | In Office | Running for Re-election (2024) |
| Bill Cassidy | Louisiana | Departing | Lost Primary |
| Mitt Romney | Utah | Departing | Retired (2024) |
| Ben Sasse | Nebraska | Out of Office | Resigned 2023 |
| Patrick Toomey | Pennsylvania | Out of Office | Retired 2022 |
| Richard Burr | North Carolina | Out of Office | Retired 2022 |
Retirements and Personal Transitions
For several of the seven, the decision to leave the Senate was a matter of timing and personal choice, though the political atmosphere undoubtedly played a role. Mitt Romney, the most vocal critic of the group and the only Republican to vote to convict in both of Trump’s impeachment trials, announced he would not seek re-election in 2024. The 79-year-old stated he was retiring to make room for a new generation of leaders. In a conversation with the student newspaper at Southern Methodist University, The Daily Campus, Romney noted he has enjoyed spending more time with his family and speaking on college campuses.
Patrick J. Toomey of Pennsylvania also opted out of a 2022 re-election bid. At the time of the 2021 vote, Toomey had been blunt, accusing Donald Trump of betraying the Constitution and his oath of office. Since leaving the Senate, Toomey has transitioned to the private sector, serving on the board of directors at Apollo Global Management, a private-equity firm.
The most poignant departure has been that of Ben Sasse. The former Nebraska senator left the Senate in 2023 to serve as the president of the University of Florida—an exit that Donald Trump publicly celebrated on social media as “great news!” However, Sasse’s tenure at the university was short-lived; he stepped down in 2024 to care for his wife during a health crisis. In December, Sasse shared the devastating news that he had been diagnosed with terminal Stage 4 pancreatic cancer.
The Broader Implications for the GOP
The dwindling number of Republicans who voted to convict Trump is more than a series of individual career changes; It’s a map of the Republican Party’s evolution. The 2021 Senate impeachment trial ended in an acquittal, but the narrow margin—57 guilty to 43 not guilty—showed a flicker of a bipartisan consensus on the events of January 6.
Since then, that consensus has evaporated. The pressure on Republicans to align with the former president has shifted from a political preference to a requirement for survival in many states. The “convict seven” represented a specific brand of institutionalism that prioritized the traditional norms of the office over party loyalty. As they exit the stage, that brand of politics is becoming a rarity in the modern GOP.
The impact is felt most acutely in the Senate, where the capacity for cross-party negotiation often depends on the existence of a moderate or independent-minded wing. With the loss of figures like Romney and Cassidy, the ideological center of the Republican caucus continues to shift.
The final chapter for this group will be written in the coming months. The primary focus now shifts to the general election in Maine, where the result for Senator Susan Collins will determine if the legacy of the 2021 dissenters maintains any foothold in the Senate. The next major checkpoint will be the November general election results, which will officially codify the new composition of the Republican caucus heading into the next Congress.
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