House Republicans expected to force vote on revised Schiff censure

House Republicans are ramping up their efforts to formally rebuke House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) as they look to combat the Democrats' impeachment inquiry into President Trump.

Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, revised his censure resolution to include language blasting the California Democrat for his comments on the committee's interactions with a whistleblower whose complaint sparked the impeachment inquiry, alleging Schiff purposely misled the public.

"Whereas, according to a New York Times article on October 2, 2019, Chairman Schiff's committee staff met with the whistleblower prior to the filing of his complaint, and staff members communicated the content of the complaint to Chairman Schiff," the updated version of the resolution reads.

"Whereas Chairman Schiff concealed his dealings with the whistleblower from the rest of the Intelligence Committee, and when asked directly in a television interview whether he had any contact with the whistleblower, he lied to the American people and said, 'We have not spoken directly with the whistleblower.'"

The initial version of the resolution has garnered 140 GOP co-sponsors in the lower chamber. It called for Schiff's resignation over his "parody" remarks about a July 25 phone call in which Trump asked Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to investigate former Vice President Joe Biden and his son during a hearing in September.

Schiff has defended his comments, arguing the exaggerated comments were made partially in jest. Top Democrats have also defended his handling of the impeachment inquiry.

Biggs is expected to join House Republican leadership — including Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.), Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), all of whom have signed on to the measure — at a press conference on Wednesday morning.

His resolution is expected to be called up as privileged later this week.

The censure vote, which is intended to allow Congress to publicly show its disapproval of a member's behavior, faces an uphill battle in the Democratic-controlled House.