A Utah state lawmaker is pushing to censure Sen. Mitt Romney for voting to convict President Trump on an impeachment article alleging abuse of power.
State Rep. Phil Lyman, a Republican, filed a motion to censure Romney, who represents Utah, and show support for Trump after the senator’s Wednesday vote to convict Trump for abuse of power and remove him from office, according to the Salt Lake Tribune. Romney was the only Republican to cross party lines and vote to convict Trump on one of the two impeachment charges he faced. The president was acquitted on both counts.
“We’re not censuring him for voting his conscience. We’re censuring him for the positions that he’s taken through this whole process,” Lyman said. “And to send a message that we want to have good relationships with the White House. We want to have good relationships with President Trump.”
Trump has taken aim at Romney, tweeting out a video on Wednesday that depicted Romney as a “secret” Democrat operative. In remarks at the White House on Thursday, Trump asked Utah Sen. Mike Lee, who voted to acquit the president, to apologize to the people of Utah for Romney’s vote.
Rep. Paul Gosar, an Arizona Republican, introduced a resolution to censure House Speaker Nancy Pelosi for ripping a copy of Trump’s State of the Union address immediately after he had concluded the speech Tuesday night. The resolution likely will not pass in the Democrat-controlled House.
