Another resolution that would enact the censure of Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) has been introduced in the U.S. House, and the measure, which was sponsored by first-term Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.), has only received 11 cosponsors. That list is in addition to Luna herself.
A very similar proposal recently failed in the House after Democrats won a majority for their motion to table, essentially meaning set aside, the earlier measure. These efforts largely hinge on longstanding complaints about Schiff from allies of Donald Trump inside the GOP, who in the text of the latest Luna proposal mope about Schiff’s handling of the Congressional arm of the Russia investigation. The proposed resolution also rehashes a hollow allegation that Schiff misrepresented the contents of a phone conversation between Trump and the Ukrainian president, though in reality Schiff was simply providing a paraphrase, which is not some kind of inherently defamatory act.
Censure is essentially a formal rebuke, and even approving this proposal wouldn’t necessarily amount to much, especially in a Congress where GOP members have already so dramatically dragged down the basic standards of decency.
The measure again also calls for the establishment of a House Ethics Committee investigation into Schiff, and that committee can recommend punishments for individual members like expulsion, though enacting such a possibility would still require a vote from the full House. Those who have attached themselves as original cosponsors for the new proposal from Luna include prominent far-right Republican names like Reps. Matt Gaetz (Fla.) and Lauren Boebert (Colo.). Harriet Hageman, who replaced Liz Cheney, also joined the push, as did South Carolina Trump ally Ralph Norman and prominent New York Republican Nick Langworthy. Luna previously expressed confidence to Schiff that her new push for his censure would succeed, though it’s not really clear if she has any objective basis for that.
