Evan Vucci, Associated Press
SALT LAKE CITY — Utah’s GOP legislative leaders released a statement Thursday expressing support of President Donald Trump in wake of Sen. Mitt Romney’s lone Republican vote to convict the president for abuse of power.
The citation, issued jointly by House Speaker Brad Wilson and Senate President Stuart Adams, was released in the middle of Utah’s 45-day legislative session, supported by the majority leadership in place of bills that would have censured or provided a pathway to recall Romney.
The citation states the U.S. economy has “grown steadily” under Trump’s administration, and Utah’s economy “has greatly benefited from the Trump administration’s economic policies resulting in a 3.1% increase in employment last year, and the third-strongest growth in personal income, up from 6% from the third quarter of 2018.”
It also lauds Trump’s federal tax package, Trump’s signing of the National Defense Authorization Act and criminal justice reform bill, his visit to Utah to reduce the size of the Bears Ears and Grand Staircase-Escalante national monuments, and the president’s “tenacious” appointments to the U.S. Supreme Court and other federal judges “whose judicial philosophy is consistent with Utah values.”
“Now therefore be it resolved the Utah State Legislature expresses appreciation and gratitude for President Trump’s many accomplishments during his first term as President of the United States,” the citation states. “As elected representatives of Utah’s citizens, we commend the President for his accomplishments.”
The citation also calls upon Congress to “do what state legislatures across the country are doing and get back to work for the American people.”
The citation comes after Romney’s vote during the impeachment trial sent shockwaves across Utah, leaving some Utahns outraged and others commending him for his courage. Trump was acquitted by the U.S. Senate. Romney said he voted his voted his conscience and in concert with his religious beliefs.
Most Utahns supported Romney’s decision. A Deseret News/Hinckley Institute of Politics poll taken earlier this month found that 49% of Utah voters were pleased with his decision while 40% were unhappy with it.
A bill that a Utah lawmaker filed the week before Romney’s vote to allow a recall election for U.S. senator caught a tidal wave of interest after Romney’s vote, and another lawmaker sought to censure Romney.
Gov. Gary Herbert said he didn’t support a censure, while Utah’s legislative leaders expressed concerns about whether the recall bill would have been unconstitutional. Still, lawmakers wanted to signal Utah’s support for Trump, so they ultimately decided to move forward instead with a citation to express the state’s support for the president, avoiding any debate or public hearings on the topic.
Chase Thomas, executive director of the left-leaning group Alliance for a Better Utah, issued a statement Thursday criticizing the citation in support of Trump, saying Wilson and Adams are “deeply fearful that Trump will retaliate against the entire state of Utah out of petty vindictiveness.”
“This desperate attempt to mitigate the fallout from Sen. Romney’s vote is not normal or acceptable behavior,” Thomas said. “Utahns will remember the courage of Sen. Romney in honoring his sacred constitutional oath. And it will also remember the cowardice of the lawmakers who threw him under a bus to side with a bully instead.”
In reference to the citation’s paragraph calling on Congress to get back to the work of the people, Thomas sought to “remind” Utah GOP leadership “that a historic number of bills are sitting on the desk” of U.S. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.
“If they are concerned with the business of the people being attended to in Congress,” Thomas said, “we recommend they pick up a phone, call their colleague in Washington, and tell him to get to it.”
from Deseret News https://ift.tt/2PcOim3
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