House Judiciary Chairman Jerrold Nadler said Friday his committee is considering censuring President Trump, stressing the introduction of articles of impeachment shouldn’t be the only option to rebuke the president.
“While censure of the president is rare, Congress has previously passed measures expressing disagreement with specific presidential conduct,” the New York Democrat said.
Four presidents have been censured by Congress dating back to 1834.
The New York congressman also said his committee is considering articles of impeachment as part of their investigation, though “no final determination has been made.”
Mr. Nadler noted there are several pieces of legislation that would address allegations of misconduct detailed in special counsel Robert Mueller’s report.
Mr. Mueller is expected to testify before Congress later this month about his report, which noted the president’s campaign did not conspire with Russian officials during the 2016 campaign, but was not clear on obstruction of justice.
The legislation Mr. Nadler said his committee is considering relate to limiting executive clemency, increasing transparency of White House communications, as well as protecting the independence of future special counsel investigations.
The chairman has held a series of hearings to examine whether it should pursue impeachment of the president. On Thursday, the committee authorized subpoenas for top administration officials and Trump allies including former Attorney General Jeff Sessions, his deputy Rod Rosenstein, and former Chief of Staff John F. Kelly. Jared Kushner, the president’s son-in-law, was also subpoenaed.
Rep. Doug Collins, Georgia Republican, said the continuous hearings have been a waste of time and if Democrats want to impeach Mr. Trump they should go ahead and do it.
“We come here today to have another almost impeachment hearing — but not an impeachment hearing,” Mr. Collins said. “We are just waiting on and on.”
The ranking member said the committee should be working on legislation related to immigration to fix the crisis at the southern border.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was opposed to moving forward with censure just last month, saying it doesn’t go far enough to be a real consequence.
“I think censure is just a way out. If you want to go, you gotta go,” she said at the Christian Science Monitor Breakfast. “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.”
The top-ranking House Democrat has also continued to tamp down on impeachment, even as more than 80 of her members are calling to a formal start of the process with an impeachment inquiry.
“I feel no pressure from my members to do anything, and I have no pressure on them to do anything,” she said last month.
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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