Louisiana Senators Bill Cassidy and John Kennedy signed onto a Senate resolution calling on the House of Representatives to vote on a formal impeachment into President Donald Trump.
The resolution, authored by Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) and co-signed by 39 republicans, is not binding in any way.
It acts as a formal notice of how the senators who signed it (and potentially vote on it) feel about the issue.
In the document, Republicans echoed talking points they have been using with their constituents and on television. In one section, they claim the president is being denied his due process in the ongoing hearings because he has not had his own counsel at the meetings.
Although framed as a push back against secrecy, Republicans likely want to put House Democrats, many of whom won narrow elections in purple districts in 2018, on the record about impeachment. They also hope that public sentiment will turn against the Democrats.
Under House rules, the closed-door hearings are only open to members of the Oversight, Intelligence and Foreign Affairs committees.
Clay Higgins, a Republican who represents Louisiana's Port Barre area, is the only member of the state's delegation who has been taking part in the hearings.
Higgins is a member of the Oversight committee.
The senate resolution was released a day after Louisiana Rep. Steve Scalise led House Republicans in storming a closed-door deposition with Laura Cooper, a senior Defense Department official who oversees Ukraine policy.
House Republicans called the impeachment inquiry hearings secretive and unfair.
As a series of diplomats have been interviewed in the probe, several of them detailing Trump's efforts to persuade Ukraine to investigate a political rival, many Republicans have been silent on the president's behavior.
Kennedy, like most of Louisiana's congressional delegation, has been a vocal supporter of the president. In a call with reporters Thursday, he attacked the Democrats running the political probe, accusing them of selectively leaking information.
"They're taking selected information from these secret hearings and leaking it to the press so you don't get a clear picture," Kennedy said.
The senator is not shy about associating with Trump either, appearing with the president at a "unity rally" in support of Republican gubernatorial candidates a day before the Oct. 12 primary election.
In the call, Kennedy told reporters that he was on the phone with Trump shortly after a runoff was called, talking about the results of the election and inviting him back to Louisiana for another rally in support of businessman Eddie Rispone."
Bill Cassidy, the senior Louisiana senator, said in a statement that Democrats "started an impeachment process before they knew the facts."
In interviews since then, he has attacked the probe, saying Democrats were working to undermine the will of the people.
