The president of the United States of America Donald Trump has scored a major victory at his impeachment trial in the Senate after senators voted against calling witnesses to testify.
Senators voted 51-49 to block potential witnesses from testifying at the impeachment trial, the Guardian Newspaper reported.
Only two members of the governing Republican party voted with the Democrats in favour of allowing the witnesses.
The House of Representatives speaker Nancy Pelosi reacted angrily to the development accusing the Republicans of being part of a cover-up.
“There can be no acquittal without a trial. And there is no trial without witnesses, documents and evidence," Nancy Pelosi said.
The Democrats had been counting on four wavering Republicans two of whom voted against the calling of witnesses, complicating the Math for the Democrats.
The vote now means that the impeachment trial will come to an end earlier than if witnesses had been allowed.
Trump faces high crime charges, accused of making an attempt to manipulate the levers of foreign policy for personal gain.
He has strongly rejected the charges levelled against him, saying the charges against him are part of a wider scheme by members of the Democratic Party to remove him from power through unconstitutional means.
The US president became the only third president to be subjected to impeachment proceedings.
Republicans control the majority in the Senate and are widely expected to save Trump from being impeached.