The Republican Party of North Carolina voted unanimously on Monday to censor Senator Richard M. Burr for voting to convict former President Donald J. Trump in his second impeachment trial.
The rebuke was the last straw for the seven Republicans who sided with the Democrats in an unsuccessful effort to declare Trump guilty of inciting an uprising on January 6, when a crowd of Trump supporters invaded the Capitol.
The 65-year-old Burr, who will retire after three Senate terms, came as a surprise after he previously voted against the impeachment trial to advance because of a Republican challenge that the Senate had no jurisdiction to try a former -president.
The Republican Party of North Carolina said in a statement on Monday that the decision to censor Burr was made by its central committee.
The party “agrees with the strong majority of Republicans in the House of Representatives and the US Senate that the Democratic-led attempt to impeach a former president is outside the United States constitution,” the statement said.
Mr. Burr issued a brief statement in response saying it was a “truly sad day” for Republicans in his state.
“My party leadership chose loyalty to a man over the fundamental principles of the Republican Party and the founders of our great nation,” he said.
Trump was acquitted on Saturday by a vote of 57 culprits against 43 innocents, which fell below the two-thirds conviction limit. The result was not a surprise, as only six Republicans joined the Democrats to pave the way for the case to be heard, narrowly rejecting a constitutional objection.
Of the seven Republican senators who voted to condemn, Burr is not the only one to face rebuke. The Republican Party of Louisiana, for example, said after the impeachment vote that it was “deeply disappointed” by the guilty vote of its state senator, Bill Cassidy.
Of the seven, only Burr and Pennsylvania senator Patrick J. Toomey, who is also retiring, will not have voters again. Mr. Toomey has been scolded by several county-level Republican officials in his state in recent days.
None of the senators was particularly vocal in criticizing Trump while he was in office.
In 2019, Mr. Burr, then chairman of the Intelligence Committee, subpoenaed the testimony of Donald Trump Jr. as part of his work in conducting the only bipartisan parliamentary investigation into interference in the Russian elections. The ex-president’s son responded by starting a political war against Burr, putting him and the Intelligence Committee on his heels.
On the day of the vote in the impeachment trial, Mr. Burr outlined his justification for his guilty vote, saying that the president “has responsibility” for the January 6 events.
“The evidence is convincing that President Trump is guilty of inciting an insurrection against a co-equal branch of the government and that the accusation goes to the level of high crimes and misdemeanors,” he said. “So I voted to condemn.”
North Carolina Republican Party President Michael Whatley released a statement the same day calling Burr’s vote for the sentencing “contradictory”.
“The Republicans of North Carolina sent Senator Burr to the United States Senate to defend the Constitution and his vote today to condemn a trial he declared unconstitutional is shocking and disappointing,” said Whatley.
Burr’s impeachment vote fueled speculation that Lara Trump, Trump’s daughter-in-law, will seek the North Carolina Senate seat that Burr will vacate after the 2022 elections. Ms. Trump, who is married to Eric Trump, has grown up in the state and has been a possible successor to Burr for months.
Trump, 38, is a former personal trainer and television producer who grew up in Wilmington, North Carolina. A Republican official with knowledge of her plans said that while the Jan. 6 riot undermined Trump’s desire to seek a position, she would make him decide in the coming months whether to run as part of a coordinated return from the Trump family.