Republican Senate leaders are increasingly confident that former President Donald Trump won't be at risk of conviction when his impeachment trial begins next month, expecting the votes to stay largely the same as Tuesday's 55-to-45 test vote over the constitutionality of the trial.

• Analysis: Biden effectively puts a date on a return to normalcy • GOP bullish Trump isn't at risk of conviction in impeachment trial

• All but five Republican senators oppose Trump impeachment trial • Trump adds another lawyer to defense team amid questions of whether he will pay them • Kaine working on Trump censure resolution

The "Trump defense" is taking shape among some alleged Capitol rioters.

CNN's Chris Cuomo reacts after 45 out of 50 Republican senators voted to dismiss former President Trump's impeachment trial just after being sworn in and promising to be impartial.

Former President Donald Trump has expanded his impeachment legal team by tapping a former prosecutor-turned-criminal defense lawyer, an addition that comes as Trump and his allies scramble to prepare a defense with less than two weeks until the Senate trial.

• More than a third of the Senate opposes impeachment

Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) reacts to comments made by Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY) to force a vote on the constitutionality of former President Donald Trump's impeachment trial.