On Feb. 23, the Douglas County Republican Party proposed a resolution to censure Sen. Ben Sasse after he voted to convict former president Trump over his role in the Jan. 6 insurrection at the Capitol.
The Douglas County Republican Party was unable to pass the censure resolution due to the fact that they were unable to meet the quorum requirements. They needed 54 members to vote on the resolution and, at the time of the vote, only 51 members were in attendance.
While Douglas County was unable to censure the Senator, five other Nebraska counties have voted in favor of similar resolutions. Those counties include Sarpy, Lincoln, Scotts Bluff, Keith and Hitchcock.
Christian Mirch, Douglas County Republican Party Chairman, said if the resolution would have passed, it wouldn’t have done much.
“It has no binding effect on the senator,” Mirch said, “and there’s no recourse if he ignores the censure.”
So, what exactly is a censure? According to Barbara Pickering, Ph.D., a UNO communications professor, a censure can take several forms. These could involve monetary penalties or a lack of future support.
“Sometimes a censure is a way of sending the message that the state party may be looking for someone to oppose him within the Republican Party,” Pickering said.
While the Nebraska GOP has continued to criticize Sasse, the senator has issued multiple statements on how unbothered he is by this disapproval. Pickering said the timing of this censure is likely why the senator has been so willing to disregard the issue.
“For the next five-and-a-half years, he is not constrained by what the party believes he should do,” Pickering said.
In fact, rather than arguing against the censure, Sasse essentially did the opposite. In a video statement shared to his YouTube page “Sasse for Nebraska,” he defended his choice.
“You are welcome to censure me again, but let’s be clear about why this is happening,” Sasse said. “It’s because I still believe, as you used to, that politics isn’t about the weird worship of one dude.”
Even though the resolution to censure Sasse here in Douglas County did not pass the first time, there is nothing stopping members of the party from bringing up the resolution, or something similar to it, in the future.
“Any central committee member can bring any resolution, so they would be welcome to bring any resolution again,” Mirch said.
Over the weekend, Sasse was formally censured by the Nebraska GOP.
