Michigan County GOP Censures Rep. Meijer Over Vote to Impeach Trump

Then-candidate Peter Meijer introduces then-Vice President Mike Pence at a campaign event at Lacks Enterprises, Inc. in Grand Rapids, Mich., on Oct. 14, 2020. Jeff KowalskiY/AFP via Getty Images

The executive committee of the Calhoun County Republican Party in Michigan voted on Feb. 11 to censure Rep. Peter Meijer (R-Mich.) for his vote to impeach former President Donald Trump, according to The Detroit News.

The censure is the first of its kind for Meijer, but several other Republicans who voted to impeach Trump had already been censured by state and local parties. Two days after Meijer’s censure, the U.S. Senate voted to acquit Trump, clearing the former president of the charge that he incited the mob that attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6.

“As our membership diligently debated what course of action to take in this matter, it ultimately came down to the fact that, without so much as a hearing, with few settled facts at your disposal, no due process, and with a key charge of the impeachment resolution that you clearly disagreed with, you still chose to join Democrats in a partisan rush to judgment in an attempt to remove a president that was already set to leave office in just seven days,” the formal censure letter states.

Days prior to the Calhoun GOP censure, the Republican leaders in Meijer’s district deadlocked on a vote and failed to advance a resolution censuring Meijer.

“It’s not a surprise,” Meijer told WZZM of the censure. “This was not a decision that we expected would be politically popular. We made the decision based on what we thought was right and necessary and where we think accountability should lie for the events of January 6th.”

Another Wolverine State congressman who voted to impeach Trump, Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.), has already been censured by two county Republican parties. Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), the third-ranked House Republican, was censured by her state’s GOP earlier this month.

Cheney is facing at least two challengers for the Republican 2022 primary. She is also on a shortlist of Republicans targeted for primary challenges by a political action committee run by former Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski.

Meijer, who has been in office for one month, has already drawn a primary challenger of his own—Tom Norton. Meijer had defeated Norton in last year’s primary.

Meijer took over the seat vacated by former Rep. Justin Amash (R-Mich.) who had quit the Republican party after voting in favor of the first impeachment of Trump.