A group of around 10 moderate House Democrats has revived a proposal to censure President Trump over his actions regarding Ukraine rather than to impeach him, according to Politico.
The group is made up of representatives who won districts in 2018 that voted for Trump in the 2016 elections.
“I think it’s certainly appropriate and might be a little more bipartisan, who knows,” said Representative Kurt Schrader (D., Ore.).
“Right now, there’s no other options. [But] this is another option,” one lawmaker commented after attending a meeting of the group on Monday.
The group believes that censuring the President without impeachment will allow them to retain support in their districts for the 2020 elections. However, the idea faces very slim chances of success, with a solid majority of the House already backing impeachment.
“I think censure is just a way out. If you want to go, you gotta go,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in June. “If the goods are there, you must impeach. Censure is nice, but it is not commensurate with the violations of the Constitution should we decide that’s the way to go.”
Some Republican lawmakers have said in private that a censure would be more difficult for GOP members to vote against, but that the option is unlikely to gain steam.
“I don’t think [moderate Democrats] have enough to block impeachment,” one GOP lawmaker told Politico. “And [they’re] obviously reaching out to Republicans to see if they would join them.”
Only two Democrats have announced they will definitely oppose impeachment: Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, and Colin Peterson of Minnesota.
No Republican congressman has backed impeachment so far. Former Michigan Republican Justin Amash, who recently became an Independent, announced on Friday he would support impeachment.