Democrat Sen. Tim Kaine abandons effort to censure Trump over Capitol riot, citing lack of support

[brooklynite]

Source: USA Today

After floating the idea last week of filing a motion to censure President Donald Trump, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-V.A., said Tuesday he won’t file due to the lack of support from his colleagues.

“We don’t have enough support on the Republican side because they don’t want to bar Trump from running from office and I don’t have enough support on the Democratic side because for most of my colleagues, it’s impeachment or nothing,” Kaine said Tuesday.

The Virginia senator said Wednesday he was discussing a censure resolution with his colleagues as an alternative to impeachment to condemn Trump’s role in the deadly attack on the Capitol Jan. 6.

Kaine’s resolution was seen as acknowledgement that the Senate is unlikely to convict Trump. In order to convict Trump, the Senate needs two-thirds of a majority meaning that Democrats need 17 Republican Senators to vote with them.

Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/2021/02/02/sen-tim-kaine-drops-effort-censure-trump-place-impeachment/4353543001/

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[soothsayer]

1. Try it after the trial

[cilla4progress]

3. 'zactly

nt

[Dawson Leery]

10. +1

[IronLionZion]

12. Yup, impeachment trial first

if that fails, then censure

[cilla4progress]

2. Mis-step on his part!

Don't give them an out - it's like caving right at the beginning!

Maybe later as a compromise but, sheesh...!

[arlyellowdog]

4. Democratic Senator Tim Kaine (not Democrat) grrr

[NRaleighLiberal]

5. he seems to never play a strong hand.

[samsingh]

6. it was such a weak wimpy idea

no one cares about censure. It's irritating to think that some people would have been satisfied with it thinking it makes a difference.

[Miguelito Loveless]

7. They want to murder you,

and you feel a slap on the wrist and a vigorous finger wag will make it all better.

[iscooterliberally]

8. "We don't have enough support on the Republican side because they don't want to bar Trump from

running for office. -

WTF? - We can't have unity or bipartisanship with republicans. They don't even want to give off the illusion that they are Americans anymore.

[FBaggins]

9. The lack of support is not as he spins it

I'm sure that there would be plenty of Senators in favor of censuring Trump (including many republicans).

The real problem is that his plan was to use censure as a trigger for the 14th Amendment to ban Trump from running for office again (essentially achieving the benefit of conviction in the impeachment trial with a much lower threshold than that required by the Constitution).

While there were even a couple of law professors floating this trial balloon... it wasn't close to constitutional. That's why it lacked and support.

[LiberalFighter]

11. Sort of like sending someone to the corner for timeout for murder.

[bucolic_frolic]

13. Disqualification without conviction

https://thehill.com/opinion/white-house/533745-impeaching-lays-groundwork-for-disqualification-even-without-a-conviction

That's an opinion piece, but it makes sense. A14 Sec3 does not tie disqualification to impeachment. It ties it to insurrection among other seditious behavior. It doesn't say 2/3. So a simple majority should do.

And that author thinks states themselves could invoke A14 Sec3 in 2024 even if the Senate doesn't raise it now. They could keep Trump off their ballots.

So we won't convict slimey, but we're not required, if we play some cards right, to a redux.

[FBaggins]

14. That was a trial balloon that isn't going anywhere

Ask yourself a simple confirming question:

If McConnell decided to accuse Obama of fomenting an insurrection in October of 2012... and 51 Senators agreed... would you accept that Obama could no longer run for reelection?

Of course you wouldn't.

A14 Sec3 does not tie disqualification to impeachment. It ties it to insurrection among other seditious behavior.

And Sec5 gives Congress the power to enact that through legislation (not by a "sense of the Senate" vote). They long ago did so and insurrection is a crime. You have to be convicted of that crime in order for 14A to apply.