The House is considering a resolution to censure Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff (Calif.) this week after Republican lawmakers forced a vote on the measure.
Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (Fla.), a member of the conservative Freedom Caucus, called Tuesday’s (June 13) vote of no confidence on the floor a privileged resolution that forced legislative action.
House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) said the measure would likely come up Wednesday (June 14).
Scalise told reporters that he was “working with Rep. Luna” to ensure the passage of the resolution and were “working closely” to bring it to the floor.
Democrats could pursue a procedural motion to drop the measure, effectively killing it, but such a motion would require a majority vote.
The office of House Democratic Whip Katherine Clark (Mass.) said the House will hold a vote on the resolution on Wednesday.
Luna introduced the censure resolution as a privileged resolution on the same day that former President Donald Trump pleaded guilty to 37 counts in a Department of Justice indictment alleging wrongdoing in handling Classified documents and refused to return them.
Schiff is facing censure for his role in a previous investigation into Trump and was the target of GOP ire.
Luna, a staunch Trump ally, first introduced the measure on May 23.
In a letter to Democratic colleagues on Tuesday, Schiff described the resolution as “false and defamatory” and claimed his GOP colleagues brought it up in an attempt to “gratify the former President’s MAGA allies, and distract from” Trump’s mounting legal troubles.
Schiff also wrote in the letter that the censure was a retaliation against the Democrat for his “role in exposing [Trump’s] abuses of power and leading the first impeachment against him.”
Schiff, who for years was the top Democrat on the House Intelligence Committee, accused Trump of colluding with Russia before the 2016 presidential election.
He also led the first impeachment inquiry against the former President, which ended with a vote in the House to impeach the then President on charges of abuse of power and obstruction of Congress.
This isn’t the first time House Republicans have gone after Schiff.
In January, House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) blocked Schiff and Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-Calif.) from serving on the House Intelligence Committee, fulfilling an earlier promise.
In May, Luna proposed removing Schiff from Congress.
