House Democrats Move to See President Trump Censured Over Charlottesville

House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi says she backs a notion to formally reprimand President Donald Trump for his response to the Charlottesville protest. However, this endorsement has people wondering what exactly a "censure" even means - as indicated by Google search trending it as #2 for a portion of Friday. 

What is a censure?
A censure is a formal reprimand by a congressional vote towards members of congress, the cabinet or the president. 

Which presidents have been censored?
Abraham Lincoln, John Tyler, James Polk, Richard Nixon and Bill Clinton. However, the only censure to pass the U.S. Senate was for President Andrew Jackson. Jackson was censured for withholding documents pertaining to his defunding of the First Bank of the United States. After his second term the Democratic Party took control of the senate and expunged Jackson's censure. So, six presidents had censures rendered (or put up for consideration). However, only one was actually censured and it was later expunged.

Censures are not found in the constitution.
While Article II of the United States Constitution lays out the proceedings for impeachment, there is no constitutional mention of censures.

The process is formally informal. 
The censure process is similar to the legislative process. A congressman will submit the notion for a censure and then their respective chamber will debate and vote for it. Either chamber of congress may initiate a censure or both may work simultaneously in what's called a concurrent resolution. In the event that a presidential censure is passed, the reprimand will generally be announced publicly. However, any formal ramifications to a censure are non-existent. The president still holds every power and recognition held before the censure. 

If no formal discipline, why even censure?
Since there is no formal precedence or ramifications for censures, the reason for their endorsements is mostly subjective. Censures can be a means of supporting preliminary evidence for impeachment, though censures are not a requirement for impeachment. Some members of congress may have a daunting re-election season ahead of them or perhaps a motive to run for president and thus might endorse censures to appease their constituents.