Virginia Senate votes 37-1 to strip Sen. Amanda Chase of only committee assignment

RICHMOND, VA – JULY 04: State senator Amanda Chase addresses protesters on July 4, 2020 in Richmond, Virginia. Chase is currently running for the Governors office of Virginia. People attended an event in Virginia tagged Stand with Virginia, Support the 2nd amendment. (Photo by Eze Amos/Getty Images)

After the vote, a Senate committee advanced a resolution to censure Chase in a party-line vote.

by: Dean Mirshahi, WRIC

Posted: Jan 19, 2021 / 02:47 PM EST

Updated: Jan 20, 2021 / 11:37 AM EST

RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC/WAVY) — The Virginia Senate overwhelmingly voted Tuesday to remove state Sen. Amanda Chase (R-Chesterfield) from her only committee assignment.

Since her decision to leave the Republican caucus in 2019 led her to be stripped of three committee appointments, Chase has served on only one committee, the Local Government Committee.

In a 37-1 vote on Tuesday, Chase being the only “nay” vote, the chamber decided to take the last committee appointment from Chase. Sen. Joe Morrissey was the only senator who did not vote.

“I have not left the Republican party. I am still a Republican, they are not,” Chase said in an interview about GOP senators who voted to boot her from the committee.

She posted on Twitter “You may attempt to censure me but you will never silence me.”

This comes after several Democratic lawmakers moved towards a potential censure of Chase, claiming in a resolution that she instigated “insurrection against the United States.” In a party-line vote Tuesday, the Senate Privileges and Election committee advanced the resolution to the Senate floor.

Today I presented my resolution censuring Sen. Amanda Chase in the Senate P&E Committee. It reported 9-6 and will be going forward to the Senate floor. Our words have power, and I wish Sen. Chase had not used her power to incite insurrection. pic.twitter.com/f5beVBhCPb
— Senator John Bell (@SenatorJohnBell) January 19, 2021

The Democratic caucus in the Senate asserted that the Republican gubernatorial contender helped empower “a failed coup d’état” at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 and called on Chase to resign from office before the censure was introduced. Getting two-thirds of the chamber to vote and expel Chase is unlikely so Democrats have opted for a formal statement of disapproval with the censure, which only needs a majority of senators to approve.

Two weeks ago, Facebook suspended Chase’s official account after she posted false claims about the 2020 election and other conspiracy theories.

Politics