6 of 7 GOP senators who voted to convict Trump rebuked

FPI / February 19, 2021

Of the seven Republican senators who voted to convict former President Donald Trump in the Senate impeachment trial, six have been censured in their home states by party organizations or grassroots voters.

In Louisiana, the executive committee of the state GOP voted unanimously to censure Sen. Bill Cassidy.

"Our constitution and our country is more important than any one person," Cassidy tweeted in defense of his vote to convict Trump.

In Pennsylvania, York County Republicans voted over the weekend to censure Sen. Pat Toomey.

USA Today reported that the York County Republican Committee discouraged county Republicans from contributing financially to the senator in the future and called on Toomey to return 2020 campaign donations from committee members. Toomey does not plan to run for re-election.

In Nebraska, the Lincoln County Republican Party on Feb. 14 unanimously adopted a resolution to censure Sen. Ben Sasse, who has made no secret of his disdain for Trump and the America First movement.

In North Carolina, the state Republican Party on Monday unanimously decided to censure Sen. Richard Burr, who voted to convict Trump after previously voting that it was unconstitutional for the Senate to try the ex-president.

"By what he did and by what he did not do, President Trump violated his oath of office to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution," Burr said after his vote.

In Utah, grassroots conservatives have launched an online petition to censure Sen. Mitt Romney for failing to "represent the average conservative Utah Republican voter."

In Alaska, where the state Republican Party was on record opposing the impeachment trial, Republicans in at least six state House districts have voted to censure Sen. Lisa Murkowski.

Of the seven GOP senators who voted against Trump in the trial, Murkowski is the only one who is up for re-election in 2022.

"I stand my ground," Murkowski said in response to the censure votes. "If I had to take that vote again, I would vote to uphold my oath of office."

Maine Sen. Susan Collins is the only one of the seven GOP defectors to, so far, escape rebuke.

The state's GOP county chairpersons did not issue a statement after meeting remotely on Monday night. However, one county party chairperson told The Bangor Daily News that a state party meeting to address censure "is likely to come by the end of the month."

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