On February 13, 2021, the Senate voted 57 guilty to 43 not guilty on the single impeachment article against former President Donald Trump. Seven Republican senators joined all 50 Democratic and independent senators voting to convict.
The Constitution requires two-thirds of senators present to convict. Because 57 votes did not meet that threshold, the Senate acquitted Trump. The vote was historically notable as a bipartisan majority to convict a former president, but it was not a conviction.
The verdict settled the impeachment trial, not every question about January 6. Subsequent congressional investigations, civil litigation, and criminal cases addressed different legal questions and involved different standards of proof.
The 57 guilty votes did not meet the constitutional two-thirds requirement. Acquittal means the Senate did not convict; it does not erase the votes or the trial record.
The 57–43 vote was a majority for conviction, but it fell short of the two-thirds threshold required by the Constitution. Seven Republican senators joined all Democratic and independent senators voting to convict. The numerical result matters because 'acquitted' can otherwise conceal how divided the chamber was.
A Senate acquittal prevented the conviction and any consequent disqualification vote in that proceeding. It did not mean the House had never impeached Trump, nor did it amount to a criminal verdict on every event of January 6. Those distinctions are especially important when the vote is cited in later political arguments.