The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to censure Rep. Adam Schiff, D-Calif., for pushing claims that former President Donald Trump’s 2016 campaign colluded with Russia — a vote that made Schiff just the third member of the House to be censured since the turn of the century.
The resolution passed 213-209 in a vote — every Republican voted for it except for six who voted “present,” and every Democrat voted against it.
Immediately following the vote, Democrats gathered on the floor and chanted “Shame!” and “Disgrace!” as House Speaker Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., tried to gavel the House in order for several minutes. Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., was heard calling McCarthy a “spiteful coward” and accusing him of “weak leadership.”
McCarthy then asked Schiff to present himself in the well of the House, and Democrats clapped and cheered as he approached. After being interrupted several times by Democrats, McCarthy said, “I have all night.”
With that language removed, the resolution was able to pass on a party-line vote, which Luna said was needed to fight back against Schiff’s “lies” about Trump.
“As chair of the House Intelligence Committee, Adam Schiff launched an all-out political campaign built on baseless distortions against a sitting U.S. president, at the expense of every single citizen in this country and the honor of the House of Representatives,” Luna said before the vote. “With access to sensitive information unavailable to most members of Congress and certainly not accessible to the American people, Schiff abused his privileges, claiming to know the truth while leaving Americans in the dark about his web of lies… lies so severe that they altered the course of the country forever.”
Schiff spoke in his own defense on the House floor, and thanked Republicans for bringing the resolution forward again.
Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., introduced the resolution over Schiff’s work on the Trump impeachment. (Win McNamee)
Schiff was a leader of Trump’s first impeachment proceeding, which was launched over a phone call made to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in which he tried to leverage U.S. military aid in a bid to get him to announce an investigation of now-President Biden.
Democrats tried to table the resolution to censure Schiff on Wednesday but failed in a 218-208 vote along party lines.
THESE 20 REPUBLICANS SAVED ADAM SCHIFF FROM CENSURE OVER TRUMP-RUSSIA ‘LIES’
The vote is not the first time House Republicans have used their majority in this Congress to target Schiff. McCarthy pulled Schiff off the Intelligence Committee this year for promoting claims that the 2016 Trump campaign was working with Russia, an allegation that was never proven.