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Susan Collins' Push To Censure Trump Hasn't Gained Much Traction

Melina Mara
/
The Washington Post via AP, Pool
Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, arrives for a confirmation hearing for President-elect Joe Biden's pick for national intelligence director Avril Haines before the Senate intelligence committee on Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2021, in Washington.

Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins of Maine says she is not giving up on the effort to censure former President Donald Trump for allegedly inciting a riot at the Capitol on Jan. 6. But Collins acknowledges the censure measure may not even come up for a vote.

Collins says she’s working with Virginia Democratic Sen. Tim Kaine in drafting the censure resolution that they hope to offer next week. She says there will not be the two-thirds vote in the Senate needed to convict Trump on the impeachment charges, and censure is the only way to hold him accountable for his actions.

“I think there should be a condemnation of that activity by President Trump,” Collins says.

She says the Democratic majority leader, Sen. Chuck Schumer of New York, has said he will not bring up the censure motion in the Senate before the trial.

“I am frustrated about this and I am disappointed that Senator Schumer as majority leader won’t put a censure motion on the floor right now,” Collins says.

She says it’s possible to introduce a censure motion after the trial, but doubts there would be the votes to do so.

“It’s possible, but having that second bite of the apple after failing to get two-thirds, I think would be very difficult to accomplish,” Collins says.

Journalist Mal Leary spearheads Maine Public's news coverage of politics and government and is based at the State House.