While most of those House Republicans also backed Thursday’s vote, there were a handful of exceptions.
Three House Republicans that had voted in favor of Trump’s January impeachment — Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina and Rep. David Valadao of California — voted against Thursday’s criminal referral.
But two House Republicans who had voted against impeachment — Mace and Fitzpatrick — backed the move against Bannon.
Mace told reporters on Thursday that her vote was about being “consistent” and that she wants Congress to retain its subpoena power should Republicans win back the majority in 2022.
“I want the power to subpoena. When we start investigating some of the crises that are facing the Biden administration right now — whether we’re talking about the border or the botched exit from Afghanistan — there are a lot of things that I’m going to want to investigate when we’re in the majority,” she said.
What comes next?
Any individual who is found liable for contempt of Congress is then guilty of a crime that may result in a fine and between one and 12 months imprisonment. But this process is rarely invoked and rarely leads to jail time.
As severe as a criminal contempt referral sounds, the House’s choice to use the Justice Department may be more of a warning than a solution. Holding a person in criminal contempt through a prosecution could take years, and historic criminal contempt cases have been derailed by appeals and acquittals.
This story has been updated with additional information Thursday.
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