Some Democrats in the Senate believe it’s time to be realistic. They don’t have the votes to impeach Donald Trump. It’s not even close. But now two Senators, Democrat Tim Kaine and Republican Susan Collins are working together on a possible compromise. Kaine remarked:
“If we can’t get to 67 votes for impeachment, there may be another way to hold President Trump accountable.”
That other way would potentially be a censure. It’s something that only requires a simple majority, versus impeachment which requires two-thirds of Senators voting to convict. The Senate describes it as “less severe than expulsion, a censure (sometimes referred to as condemnation or denouncement)… In 1834, the Senate censured President Andrew Jackson — the first and only time the Senate censured a president.”
Censure doesn’t remove someone from office, so it’s essentially a slap on the wrist. However, in this case, Kaine is trying to include a provision that prevents Trump from ever holding political office again. Senator Chris Coons says, “The bottom line here is we have to deliver accountability for the events of January 6th.”
ABC News writes:
Collins said the resolution reprimanding the president, which is still being tweaked with no clear date for its introduction, would be in lieu of a trial, but Kaine said that wasn’t clear. One thing is certain, it would force Republicans to take a position on Trump’s actions rather than focusing on procedural arguments, something that supporters of the measure are using as a selling point to Democratic leadership.
“It seems to me there is benefit in looking at an alternative that might be able to garner bipartisan support,” said Collins in this Axios report.