The Utah legislature will decline to consider bills to recall or censure GOP Sen. Mitt Romney for voting to convict President Trump during his Senate impeachment trial.
Utah House Speaker Brad Wilson met with his Republican caucus on Tuesday to determine a plan of action for bills to censure or possibly recall Romney, after which he announced they would not seek to punish Romney, according to Deseret News.
“Many people disagree with the conclusion Sen. Romney came to, and I think what we can kind of conclude from this conversation is we’re going to agree to disagree,” Wilson said. “We understand the thoughtful process Sen. Romney went through. Many people disagree with it, and we think it’s probably time to move on.”
Instead, Utah state legislators will move to pass a resolution supporting the president and thanking Trump “for all the great things he’s done for the state of Utah.”
Romney voted to convict Trump on one charge of abuse of power last week, becoming the first U.S. senator to ever vote for removal of a president from his own party. Romney joined Republicans in voting against the second impeachment charge on obstruction of Congress. Trump was acquitted on both articles of impeachment.
Utah State Rep. Phil Lyman, a Republican, introduced a bill to censure Romney after the Senate conviction vote. GOP Rep. Tim Quinn had previously introduced a bill that would allow Utahans to vote to recall a U.S. senator. Quinn said his bill, introduced before Romney’s vote, was not meant to target Romney, but Quinn’s legislation received renewed interest after the Senate trial.
