A group of GOP members of Congress are proposing a censure of President Donald Trump as House Democrats prepare to impeach the president on Wednesday.
The proposal pushed by Reps Brian Fitzpatrick, R-Pa., and Tom Reed, R-N.Y. on Tuesday would admonish Trump for “attempting to unlawfully overturn” the 2020 election, and for “violating his oath of office on January 6.”
The proposal, which has the support of seven GOP members of Congress, comes nearly a week after a mob of Trump supporters stormed the US Capitol, interrupting the count of the Electoral College. The riot, which forced lawmakers to take cover for several hours, resulted in the deaths of five people, including a member of the US Capitol Police.
“This is an important step to hold the President accountable. Congress must make clear that it rejects extremism and condemns the President’s actions,” said Reed. “We will continue to push for Congressional leaders to work with us on investigating the events surrounding this dark period in our history and make sure it never happens again with the public’s trust in our democratic institutions restored.”
The idea of a censure is likely not to get much support from House Democrats, who are primed to impeach the president and send a conviction to the Senate. As of early Tuesday evening, three Republican members of Congress said they will join House Democrats in voting to impeach Trump.
A censure, which cannot result in the removal of the president, would be a non-binding but formal rebuke of the his actions.
The impeachment would then be sent to the Senate, where two thirds of the Senate would be required to remove the president. It is likely that a conviction would not happen until after Trump leaves office on Jan. 20. While Democrats have said they want Majority Leader McConnell to reconvene the Senate to take a vote, the Senate is in recess until next week.
As part of a conviction, the Senate could vote to permanently bar Trump from holding federal office ever again.
While there have been attempts to censure presidents in the past, there has not been a formal censure of a president since Andrew Jackson in 1834, although his censure from the US Senate was expunged three years later.