North Carolina GOP to vote on Burr censure after impeachment vote

The North Carolina Republican Party will reportedly hold a vote Monday to decide whether Sen. Richard Burr (R-N.C.) should be censured after he voted to convict former President Trump in his second Senate impeachment trial.

According to The Associated Press, the chapter said its central committee will convene to conduct the vote on Monday night.  

The censure vote comes after the group condemned Burr after he joined six other Republicans voting on Saturday to convict Trump on charges that he incited the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.

Trump was acquitted after the upper chamber voted to convict him 57-43. At least two thirds of the chamber, or 67 senators, would have needed to vote in favor of conviction for Trump to be found guilty of the charge.

North Carolina GOP Chairman Michael Whatley slammed Burr within hours of the vote on Saturday.

“North Carolina Republicans sent Senator Burr to the United States Senate to uphold the Constitution and his vote today to convict in a trial that he declared unconstitutional is shocking and disappointing,” Whatley said. 

Burr’s vote to convict was somewhat surprising given he had previously voted that the trial was unconstitutional.

Burr, who is retiring instead of seeking a fourth term in 2022, said in a statement on Saturday that, when the impeachment started, he “believed that it was unconstitutional to impeach a president who was no longer in office.” He also said then that he still believes “that to be the case.” 

However, the Republican senator added in the statement that the “evidence is compelling that President Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection against a coequal branch of government and that the charge rises to the level of high Crimes and Misdemeanors.” 

“I have listened to the arguments presented by both sides and considered the facts. The facts are clear,” he said. 

“The President promoted unfounded conspiracy theories to cast doubt on the integrity of a free and fair election because he did not like the results. As Congress met to certify the election results, the President directed his supporters to go to the Capitol to disrupt the lawful proceedings required by the Constitution,” he continued.

“When the crowd became violent, the President used his office to first inflame the situation instead of immediately calling for an end to the assault,” he also said.

Burr and the other Republicans who voted to convict the former president have faced swift backlash from their home states and from other party members in Congress.

The Louisiana Republican Party voted on Saturday to censure Sen. Bill Cassidy following his vote to convict Trump.