GOP effort to censure Adam Schiff defeated in House vote
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Rep. Adam Schiff. Photo: Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images.
The House on Wednesday voted down a resolution to censure Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
Why it matters: The push to reprimand the former House Intelligence Committee chair came as former President Trump was arrested on Tuesday over his handling of classified documents.
- The resolution cited Schiff’s allegations of collusion between Trump and Russia during the 2016 election, and his promotion of the Steele dossier.
- It proposed fining Schiff $16 million, half the cost of former special counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation into Trump.
Driving the news: Democrats introduced a motion to table the resolution, which passed 225-196, effectively killing the effort.
- 20 House Republicans voted with all Democrats present to defeat the resolution.
- Five Democrats, all on the House Ethics Committee, voted "present," as did Reps. George Santos (R-N.Y.) and Darrell Issa (R-Calif.).
- The resolution was introduced on Tuesday by Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), a right-wing Trump ally and occasional GOP leadership antagonist.
Between the lines: Republican leadership supported the resolution but did not actively whip votes for it, according to several Republican members.
The intrigue: The censure resolution is helping to juice fundraising for Schiff's Senate campaign.
- The Californian sent out a fundraising tweet and email based on the censure resolution.
What they’re saying: Massie compared the $16 million fine to efforts by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) during the last Congress to enforce the chamber’s mask mandate.
- “I’m still litigating a federal lawsuit against Pelosi over a salary reduction she imposed on me for my refusal to wear a mask,” he tweeted.
- Luna shot back by noting that the fine would have to be levied by the Ethics Committee and could be paid for with campaign funds, differentiating it from Pelosi’s fines.
