WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Roy Blunt (Mo.) released the following statement after voting to declare it unconstitutional for the Senate to proceed with an impeachment trial of a president who is no longer in office:

“I believe the constitutional purpose for presidential impeachment is to remove a president from office, not to punish a person after they have left office. No consideration was given to impeaching President Nixon when he resigned in 1974. The Constitution hasn’t changed and the Congress should not set a new, destructive precedent.”