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After floating the idea last week of filing a motion to censure President Donald Trump, Sen. Tim Kaine, D-V.A., said Tuesday he won’t file due to the lack of support from his colleagues.
“We don’t have enough support on the Republican side because they don’t want to bar Trump from running from office and I don’t have enough support on the Democratic side because for most of my colleagues, it’s impeachment or nothing,†Kaine said Tuesday.
The Virginia senator said Wednesday he was discussing a censure resolution with his colleagues as an alternative to impeachment to condemn Trump’s role in the deadly attack on the Capitol Jan. 6.
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Kaine’s resolution was seen as acknowledgement that the Senate is unlikely to convict Trump. In order to convict Trump, the Senate needs two-thirds of a majority meaning that Democrats need 17 Republican Senators to vote with them.
Although getting 17 Republicans to vote to convict Trump seems unlikely, five Republican senators did join Democrats last Tuesday in voting to move forward with the impeachment trial after a Republican effort to dismiss it as unconstitutional.Â
Kaine also told reporters Tuesday that he’s “very worried about going through this trial and having the punchline at the end of it, Trump acquitted again.â€
While a censure doesn’t hold the same weight as a conviction, it would publicly record the Senate’s disapproval of Trump’s role in the attack on the Capitol.
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