How An Uptick In Censures Among Local Republicans Signals A Growing Radicalism
The Republican National Committee’s censure last month of GOP Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger was a historical rarity — national parties almost never reprimand their own officeholders. But in many ways it was the culmination of what’s been happening at the state level. State and local parties are increasingly disciplining their officeholders, and it’s mostly happening on the Republican side.
It’s typical for the losing party in a presidential race to undergo some sort of period of self-reflection after its loss, trying to come up with a narrative that will help guide it in future elections. But what Republicans have gone through since 2020 is something of a departure, with many in the party arguing that former President Donald Trump didn’t actually lose. Moreover, these election deniers haven’t just tried to delegitimize the 2020 election results, they’ve also spearheaded an effort to rebuke Republicans who have said Trump lost.
One of the key tools these Trump supporters have used is the censure. A censure is something governing bodies (often legislatures) use to issue official statements of condemnation or disapproval. Censures have a long history in this country. The U.S. Senate, for example, censured President Andrew Jackson in 1834 for effectively shuttering the Bank of the United States. The Senate has also censured nine of its own members, and in 2021, the U.S. House of Representatives censured its 24th member, Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona, for, among other things, posting an anime video of himself killing a fellow member.
Yet the censure is, by definition, a symbolic act: It does not actually remove anyone from office or strip anyone of power. In fact, the censure has historically carried little weight, although it can signal to the officeholder that they are losing standing with their party and that their renomination is likely in jeopardy. And until recently, censures were also relatively rare.
https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/how-an-uptick-in-censures-among-local-republicans-signals-a-growing-radicalism/