Published February 2, 2022 | By Erik Schelzig

The Senate voted 27-5 to oust Sen. Katrina Robinson (D-Memphis) from the chamber for federal wire fraud charges related to misspending grant money intended for her nursing schools and her agreement to pretrial diversion on another case.

Robinson called the case a “procedural lynching.”

The chamber earlier voted 16-16 on a motion to delay consideration of the ouster proceedings until after Robinson is sentenced in March, meaning the motion failed. Democratic Sen. Brenda Gilmore of Nashville was missing due to a COVID-19 infection, otherwise the motion might have prevailed.

Several Republicans said later they had been confused about whether the vote was to end debate or delay consideration.

Here is an image gallery of proceedings on Tuesday.