Saturday, June 22, 2019

Why Nancy Pelosi Continues to Deflect the Censure Gambit

One-quarter of House Democrats publicly support impeaching President Trump.

Now the latest: Pelosi is deflecting censure chatter by insisting that she'd rather see the president impeached.

For Pelosi, the chance of beating the president and the value of beating him are both diminished if she cannot protect the Democrats who won seats in districts where Trump is popular.

Some members of Congress are attracted to the notion of formal legislative censure of the president, in lieu of impeachment.

Censure is classic Washington: It would enable lawmakers to register disapproval of presidential misconduct yet avoid an accountable vote on whether the president should be removed.

Pelosi is shrewd enough to see salient differences between the Clinton and Trump scenarios.

A censure vote on Trump would be unpopular: It would not satisfy anti-Trumpers for whom there is no alternative to impeachment; and it would anger the president and his supporters, who see the collusion caper as a farce and want the matter dropped.

https://www.nationalreview.com/2019/06/nancy-pelosi-president-trump-censure-impeachment/

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