Watch Kennedy’s comments here.

WASHINGTON – Sen. John Kennedy (R-La.) today cautioned his colleagues against breaking centuries of Senate precedent by quashing the impeachment of Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas without allowing a full trial.

Kennedy delivered his remarks shortly after the House of Representatives presented the articles of impeachment to the Senate.

Key excerpts from Kennedy’s speech are below:

“This doesn’t happen every day or every week or every month or even every year around here. Our country is almost 250 years old. This has only happened 22 times. . . . Every single time, except for when the public official has quit, the United States Senate has done its job—through thick and thin, whether the Democrats were in the majority or the Republicans were in the majority.

“It didn't matter who the president was. We did our job because we respect the institution of the Constitution. We respect the three branches of government. We respect the United States House of Representatives. We respect them enough to do our job.”

. . .

“Now, in the next two days, you’re going to hear one of my colleagues, the majority leader, say we don’t need to hold a trial. He’s going to say the evidence is insufficient: It’s not worth our time.

“I want you to think for a moment. Just ask yourself this question: How does he know the evidence isn’t sufficient? How does he know? He hasn’t heard the evidence.”

. . .

“It’s about raw, gut politics. Some of my colleagues in this body do not want us to talk about the border in an election year, and we all know that. You know that. I know that.  Everybody watching knows that. The American people know that. They may be poorer under President Biden, but they’re not stupid. They can see that. And that’s not right. . . . Regardless of what you think or what you may think you think without having heard the evidence, the United States Senate should do its job. We should hold a trial.”

. . .

“They’ve got the majority. I believe in the rule of law and the rules are the rules, but sometimes the majority just means that all of the fools are on the same side. That’s why we have a Bill of Rights in our Constitution to protect our rights. . . . This is a political decision, and it’s an insult to the Senate. It’s one more step of the United States Senate rotting from within where we don’t do our job for political reasons.” 

Watch Kennedy’s full speech here.

Kennedy also spoke about impeachment at an earlier press conference on Tuesday. Watch those remarks here.