TRUMP CAUGHT OFF GUARD AS SENATE WALKOUT STUNS CAPITOL

Now this wasn't just a procedural vote. It's a clear rejection of the idea that one person can unilaterally send American sons and daughters into harm's way without Congress, without debate.

The yeas are 52, the nays are 47. The motion is agreed to. The joint resolution will be placed on the calendar.

The arguments came down to what's more dangerous, impeach Donald Trump again and risk further dividing the country or allow him to remain in office, even if it's just for a few days.

He is capable of starting a civil war. He must be impeached. He must be stopped now.

On this vote, the final vote was 232 to 197 in favor of impeachment and took place in what a week ago was a crime scene. That's when a pro-Trump mob occupied Congress in an effort to overturn the presidential election, leading to five deaths. Democrats argued this was the shattering of Trump's glass house of lies, built upon four years of racist fear-mongering.

Every one of us in this room right now could have died as Senator Lindsey Graham said.

Okay, so this is the moment where you realize that Trump's control over the Republican Party is completely shattered. On January 10, 2026, during a classified briefing in the Senate about the Venezuela raid, and Trump's request for $5 billion in emergency supplemental funding, 12 Republican senators literally got up and walked out. They didn't stay for the vote, they didn't try to negotiate, they didn't attempt to find a middle ground, they just stood up and left. And that walkout killed Trump's funding request

That walkout collapsed the vote 52 to 48 against Trump's emergency powers push 12 Republicans joining all 48 Democrats to block the funding That's a historic moment. That's the moment where the Republican Party officially fractures over Trump's Venezuela operation

This is looking at inside or look at this. These protesters are inside Statuary Hall right now. You see the statues. This is a moment I never saw in my life. These individuals just rushed through security. They are inside Statuary Hall. This is a legendary, a legendary place where all of us who've covered Capitol Hill, it's hard to believe what we're seeing right there.

They're just walking through. We're Capitol Police. We're a Capitol police. It's a strange, it's an awful situation. They're having a good time in Statuary Hall. Jake Tapper, I don't know about you, but this is an incredibly dangerous situation

that's unfolding here in the United States.

Think about what that means. Trump is asking the Senate for $5 billion. That's $5 billion to fund the ongoing occupation and operations in Venezuela. Trump is arguing that this is necessary to consolidate the military victory,

to maintain security, to pursue the objectives of the mission. And the Senate is saying, no. The Senate is saying, we don't trust you. The Senate is saying this operation was unauthorized. The Senate is saying 12 civilians died

and we don't think that's acceptable. The Senate is saying we're not giving you the money. And 12 Republican senators are walking out to make that point absolutely clear. The senators who led this walkout are significant. You've got Tom Tillis from North Carolina. You've got Lisa Murkowski from Alaska. You've got other senior Republicans who are saying this has gone too far.

These are not fringe members of the party. These are not extreme liberals masquerading as Republicans. These are legitimate established Republicans who are saying Trump violated his constitutional authority and they're not going to fund it. And that's devastating for Trump politically

because it shows that he doesn't just have a problem with Democrats, he has a problem with his own party. Trump's response has been absolutely unhinged. He went on Truth Social and called them Rhino traitors. Rhino stands for Republican in name only He said they betrayed America. He said they were cowards

He said he was going to primary them all meaning he was going to recruit challengers to run against them in the 2026 midterms But here's the thing about Trump's response. It doesn't actually accomplish anything You can call senators traitors all day long You can threaten to primary them all you want But if they've already voted to block your funding, if they've already walked out on you, the damage is done. The vote is over. The funding is dead. Trump's emergency powers push is finished.

The timing of this walkout is also significant. It happened in the middle of the 25th amendment crisis. It happened while Vance is apparently securing cabinet signatures to remove Trump. It happened while impeachment articles are pending in the House. It happened while Trump is facing forced testimony under oath. So, you've got a perfect storm of crisis and chaos hitting Trump simultaneously from every direction. The courts are blocking him. Congress is impeaching him. His cabinet is trying to remove him. His own party in the Senate is walking out on him. This is not a president who has any power anymore. This is not a president who can move his

agenda forward. This is a president who's completely politically isolated The money issue is also important five billion dollars is a lot of money That's money that could be spent on infrastructure or education or social programs or anything else But Trump wanted to spend it on maintaining a military occupation in Venezuela and the Senate is saying no the Senate is saying we have Other priorities the Senate is saying we don't trust you with that money. That's a rebuke. That's the Senate saying we don't believe in your judgment. We don't believe in your priorities. We don't trust you to spend money responsibly. The polling numbers are also reflecting this moment. A Gallup poll from January 11th shows Trump's approval rating has dipped to

41 percent. 41 percent. That's really low. That's the kind of approval rating that suggests a president is in serious political trouble That's the kind of approval rating that suggests voters have lost faith in the president and that's happening while Trump is also facing the 25th Amendment threats and impeachment and court defeats and forced testimony So Trump is not just losing politically Trump is losing the public this moment is being compared to January 6th Which is wild because January 6th was when the Capitol was attacked and democracy was hanging by a thread.

But now Democrats are saying that Trump's actions, the unauthorized military raid, the civilian deaths, the cover-up, the constitutional overreach are equally dangerous to democracy. Democrats are saying this is insurrection 2.0. Democrats are saying Trump is trying to expand his power unconstitutionally and Congress needs to stop him. And the Senate walkout is Congress saying,

we're stopping you. We're not giving you the money. We're not supporting this operation anymore. The fracture in the Republican Party is also significant. This is not the party united behind Trump. This is the party splitting. You've got the Trump loyalists who will support him no matter what he does, and you've got the Republicans who are saying enough is enough. We have limits, we have principles, and those principles don't allow

us to support this operation. That split is going to define the 2026 midterms. That split is going to determine whether Republicans can hold the Senate. If moderate Republicans are splitting with Trump, if they're walking out on him, they might also split on other votes. They might also vote with Democrats on other issues. That's a threat to Republican control of the Senate. And for Trump, this is probably the worst moment of his entire presidency so far. Not because of any one individual thing, but because of the combination of everything hitting him at the same time. The courts blocking him, Congress impeaching him, his cabinet trying to remove him, his

own party in the Senate walking out on him, his approval ratings in the low 40s, and all of this happening simultaneously. Trump is not just in political trouble. Trump is in mortal danger as a president. Trump might actually be removed from office. Trump might actually be impeached and convicted.

Trump might actually lose control of the Republican Party. And it's all happening because of the Venezuela raid and his response to it. All right, so let's dig into what's really happening here and why the Senate walkout is so significant. Because this is not just about $5 billion in funding. This is about the fundamental fracture of the Republican Party and the collapse of Trump's political power. When 12 Republican senators walk out on a vote, when they refuse to support their party's president, when they join with the Democratic

Party to block funding for a presidential initiative, that's not a normal political disagreement. That's a constitutional crisis. That's a moment where the normal rules of partisan politics break down. The senators who walked out are significant because they're not fringe players. Tom Tillis is a mainstream conservative from North Carolina. He's been in the Senate since 2015. He's respected on both sides of the aisle.

Lisa Murkowski is from Alaska. She's been in the Senate since 2002. She's known for independence from party orthodoxy. These are serious established senators who are saying they cannot in good conscience vote to fund this operation. And when senators like that walk out,

it sends a message to the rest of the Republican party. It sends a message that opposition to Trump is not just acceptable among moderates and liberals, it's acceptable among serious conservatives. The reasons they gave for walking out are also important. They cited the unauthorized nature of the Venezuela raid. They cited the civilian deaths. They cited the constitutional overreach. They said

Trump violated his constitutional authority by conducting a military operation without Congress. They said he overstepped his power. And they said they couldn't in good conscience vote to fund something that they believe was unconstitutional. That's a principled position. That's a position based on constitutional law and the separation of powers. That's not a position based on partisan politics or personal animosity. It's a position based on the Constitution itself. Now, from Trump's perspective, this is catastrophic. Trump needed this vote to pass. Trump needed

the $5 billion to fund the Venezuela operation. Trump needed to show that he had the authority and the power to pursue military operations without Congress. But instead, Trump got humiliated. Trump got beaten on a key vote. And Trump got beaten by members of his own party. That's politically devastating. That's the kind of thing that destroys a president's credibility. That's the kind of thing that makes it impossible for a president to move his agenda forward.

The symbolism of the walkout is also significant. When senators literally get up and walk out, when they refuse to even stay in the room during the vote, they're making a statement. They're saying, this is so bad. This is so unconstitutional. This is so wrong that we can't even sit here and debate it.

We have to leave. We have to walk out. That's a dramatic gesture. That's a gesture that gets attention. That's a gesture that sends a message and that message is being received by the media and the public and the rest of Congress. Everyone is seeing that Republicans have walked out on Trump. Everyone is seeing that Trump doesn't have the party behind him. The vote itself,

52 to 48 against Trump, is also significant. That's a lopsided defeat. That's not even close. All 48 Democrats voted against Trump and 12 Republicans voted against Trump. That's 60 votes against Trump's position and only 38 senators voted for Trump. 38. That shows you how much support Trump has lost. That shows you that Trump doesn't have the votes on major legislation. That shows you that Trump is a lame duck president, even though he's still in office.

The timing of this vote coming during the 25th amendment crisis and the impeachment push and the forced testimony is also significant because all of these crises are feeding off each other. The fact that the Senate is walking out on Trump makes it more likely that the 25th Amendment will be invoked. The fact that the Senate is walking out on Trump makes impeachment more likely to succeed. The fact that the Senate is walking out on Trump shows that he's politically isolated and vulnerable. So these crises are not

isolated incidents. They're connected, they're reinforcing each other, and they're all pushing toward the same conclusion, Trump's removal from office. The long-term implications for the Republican Party are also worth thinking about. If moderate Republicans split with Trump on major votes,

if they form coalitions with Democrats to block Trump's agenda, that changes the dynamic of Senate politics. That means Trump doesn't have a guaranteed 60 votes on legislation. That means every bill is going to be a fight. That means Republicans can't just march in lockstep behind Trump.

That means there's actual debate and disagreement, and that fracture is going to define Republican politics going forward. The money itself is also worth thinking about. $5 billion is a lot of money to spend on a military occupation that killed civilians and violated the Constitution. That's money that could be spent on a lot of other things. That's money that could go toward infrastructure or education or scientific research.

But Trump wanted to spend it on Venezuela, and the Senate is saying no. The Senate is prioritizing other spending. The Senate is saying Venezuela is not a priority, and that's probably going to resonate with voters. Voters probably don't want their tax money spent on an occupation that kills civilians and was unconstitutional. Anyway, the comparison to January 6th is also interesting because it shows how Democrats are framing this moment. Democrats are saying Trump is trying to expand executive power

unconstitutionally, just like he tried to overturn the 2020 election on January 6th. Democrats are saying this is part of a pattern of Trump trying to exceed his constitutional authority. Democrats are saying the Senate walkout is the moment when Congress stepped in and stopped Trump. Democrats are saying this is Congress defending democracy against a president who's trying to concentrate power in his own hands. And that's a powerful message. That's a message that's going to

resonate in the 2026 midterms. The VP Vance situation is also worth noting. Apparently, Vance signals support for defunding the Venezuela operation. Vance apparently thinks the money shouldn't be spent on this, and Vance is publicly opposing Trump on this. That's a huge statement that shows that the Vice President has turned against the President on a major policy issue and that further supports the 25th Amendment case.

If the Vice President thinks Trump is making bad decisions, if the Vice President thinks Trump shouldn't have the money, then the Vice President probably also thinks Trump is unfit for office. So Vance's opposition to the funding vote is part of his broader effort to build the case for invoking the 25th Amendment. What's happening here is that Trump is losing support across the board. Trump is losing support in the courts. Trump is losing support in the House. Trump is losing support in the Senate. Trump is losing support in his own cabinet. Trump is losing support with the public whose approval of him has dropped to 41%. Trump is isolated and vulnerable, and each crisis feeds into the others.

Each setback makes the next setback more likely. And at some point, Trump's political position becomes untenable. At some point, Trump becomes so weak that his removal becomes inevitable. Okay, so let's break down what this Senate walkout really means and what happens next. First point, and this is straightforward, Trump lost a major vote in the Senate. 12 Republican senators walked out and joined with all the Democrats to block $5 billion in funding for the Venezuela operation. That's a significant political defeat. That's the kind of defeat that

shows the President is losing control. That's the kind of defeat that shows the president is losing control. That's the kind of defeat that shows the president doesn't have the votes for his major initiatives. And in a divided Congress, that means Trump probably can't pass anything major going forward. Trump probably can't move his agenda. Trump is probably going to face roadblocks on everything he tries to do. What this means for the Venezuela operation is that it's not going to get funded the way Trump wanted. The occupation is going to have to continue

on existing budgets. The military operations are going to have to be scaled back or redirected. The strategic goals that Trump had for Venezuela are probably going to have to be abandoned or postponed. This is a huge blow to Trump's foreign policy agenda. This is Trump failing to achieve his objectives. This is Trump's plans for the region being blocked by Congress. Second point is that this walkout is going to accelerate the impeachment process. The

House is going to see that the Senate is unwilling to support Trump. The House is going to see that Trump is politically vulnerable. The House is going to see that there's bipartisan opposition to Trump's Venezuela operation. And that's going to embolden House Democrats to move forward aggressively with impeachment. that's going to embolden House Democrats to move forward aggressively with impeachment. That's going to make House Republicans nervous about whether they can defend Trump in the Senate.

And that's probably going to lead to more Republican defections if and when impeachment reaches the Senate for a trial. Third point is that this walkout provides ammunition for the 25th Amendment push. Vance and the cabinet members

who are discussing removing Trump can point to the Senate walkout as evidence that Trump is unfit. They can say, look, the Senate doesn't trust Trump. The Senate doesn't support him. The Senate is walking out on him. They can say Trump's judgment is so bad that his own party won't fund his initiatives. They can say Trump is making decisions that are unconstitutional and bad for the country and that strengthens their case for invoking the 25th Amendment.

Fourth point is about the political implications for the 2026 midterms. If moderate Republicans are splitting with Trump, if they're voting with Democrats against Trump's policies, then they're probably going to face primary challenges from Trump loyalists. Trump is going to run challengers against the 12 senators who walked out. Trump is going to try to primary them, but that's going to split the Republican vote in those states and districts. That's going to make it easier for Democrats to win. So the primary

challenges from Trump could actually help Democrats in the midterms. And that's a dilemma for Senate Republicans. If they support Trump, they face the problem that Trump is unpopular and his policies are unpopular. But if they oppose Trump, they face the problem that Trump will primary them and their supporters will be angry. So Republicans are basically trapped. There's no good option for them. That's why 12 of them just walked out. That's why they decided that principle was more important than party loyalty.

Fifth point is about Trump's approval ratings. They've dropped to 41%. That's the lowest they've been in a while. And that's probably going to continue to drop as more crises unfold. The impeachment will probably hurt his approval ratings. The 25th Amendment discussions will probably hurt his approval ratings. The forced testimony will probably hurt his approval ratings. The 25th Amendment discussions will probably hurt his approval ratings. The forced testimony will probably hurt his approval ratings. And as Trump's approval ratings drop, it becomes more likely that the 25th Amendment will be invoked. It becomes more likely that the Senate will convict him in an impeachment

trial. It becomes more likely that Republicans will abandon him entirely. Sixth point is about the symbolism of the walkout. When senators literally walk out of a vote, when they refuse to even stay in the room, that's a powerful statement. That's saying, we don't trust you. That's saying we don't believe in you. That's saying we think what you're doing is so bad that we can't even sit here and watch it. And that symbolism matters. That image is going to be replayed on news channels. That image is going to be used in campaign ads. That image is going to define how Trump is perceived by voters. And from Trump's perspective, that image is absolutely devastating.

Trump wants to be seen as strong and in control. Trump wants to be seen as someone who gets things done. But the image of his own party walking out on him is the opposite of that. That image makes Trump look weak. That image makes Trump look isolated. That image makes Trump look like a president who doesn't have the support of his own party. Seventh point is about what this means for Trump's agenda going forward. Trump probably can't pass any major legislation. Trump probably can't implement any major policy initiatives.

Trump is probably going to be blocked by Congress at every turn. And that's going to make Trump even more isolated and more desperate. That's going to drive Trump to make even more unilateral decisions. That's gonna drive Trump to try to expand executive power even more. And that's gonna lead to even more conflict with Congress and the courts.

This is a downward spiral for Trump. Each setback leads to more setbacks. Each crisis feeds into the next crisis. And at some point, you reach a tipping point where the president's position becomes untenable. And it's looking more and more like Trump is approaching that tipping point. Trump is not just losing on individual

votes. Trump is losing control of the Republican Party. Trump is losing public support. Trump is losing the ability to move his agenda. And Trump is facing removal via the 25th Amendment or conviction via impeachment. What's clear is that Trump's presidency is in mortal danger. Trump is not just facing political challenges. Trump is facing the real possibility of being removed from office or forced to resign. The Senate walkout is probably going to be looked back on as the moment when everyone

realized that Trump was no longer going to survive his term. The moment when the party officially split. The moment when opposition to Trump became mainstream Republican position, not just a fringe Democratic position. This is absolutely historic. This is unprecedented in modern American politics.

A sitting president facing removal from his own party, a sitting president losing major votes in Congress, a sitting president whose own cabinet is discussing removing him, a sitting president who is politically isolated and vulnerable, and facing the real possibility of being removed from office. of being removed from office. This is the kind of moment that changes history, and we're living through it right now.