It’s a new week in the House of Representatives, but the same old censure fights are back. The House will consider two more censure resolutions against Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) after an effort by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) fell short last week.
Both Greene and fellow Georgia GOP Rep. Rich McCormick filed resolutions to censure Tlaib Monday. The move comes after Tlaib released a video over the weekend that included the chant “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” a rallying cry for Hamas, which was behind the Oct. 7 terror attacks and wants to end Israel’s existence. Tlaib’s parents are Palestinian immigrants.
McCormick initially joined Democrats in voting to table Greene’s resolution last week, which accused Tlaib of “leading an insurrection.”
While Greene has slightly pared back her rhetoric this week, McCormick’s resolution narrowly focuses on Tlaib’s comments about the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. McCormick’s resolution also wouldn’t require Tlaib to go to the well of the House to be verbally reprimanded.
“We’re not against censureship of Tlaib. We just want to make sure it was done the right way,” McCormick said in a video. “It’s very important that the wording is correct and that’s why we submitted our own resolution.”
House Minority Whip Katherine Clark told us Democrats were whipping their members to vote against both censure resolutions. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries refused to address Tlaib’s latest comments, telling us he was focused on “solving real problems.”
But senior Democrats acknowledged to us they won’t be able to fully hold the caucus together like last week. Several Democrats are beyond frustrated with Tlaib both for posting the initial video and then defending her actions. Several Democrats in the Michigan delegation, as well as Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, have objected to Tlaib’s statement.
But Tlaib refuses to back down or revise her original comments.
“It’s a shame my colleagues are more focused on silencing me than they are on saving lives, as the death toll in Gaza surpasses 10,000,” Tlaib said in a statement.
McCormick said several House Republicans who voted to table Greene’s measure last week will co-sponsor his measure, including Reps. Derrick Van Orden (Wis.), Darrell Issa (Calif.) and Max Miller (Ohio).
Rep. Austin Scott (R-Ga.), who voted against Greene’s initial resolution, will also support McCormick’s proposal, according to a source. Rep. Doug LaMalfa (R-Calif.) told us McCormick is “probably on a good track” with the resolution, and he’s open to backing it.
Republican leadership has two days to bring the privileged resolutions up for a vote once they’re formally introduced on the floor. McCormick’s resolution is likely to come up first, which Democrats will move to table.
If the motion to table fails — which is likely — the House will debate the resolution. Republicans could either call for a vote right after the debate or postpone the vote to a later time.
What Democrats are doing: Rep. Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) introduced a resolution Monday to censure Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.) for his comparison of Palestinian civilians to Nazis.
Mast, though, told us that he was not concerned by Jacobs’ push to censure him and that he stood by his comments.
“I guess she’s the kind of politician that makes it so we lose wars,” Mast said of Jacobs. “[She] doesn’t look at the truth and facts.”
But some members aren’t happy with the never-ending censure efforts. Several lawmakers also raised First Amendment concerns.
Reps. John Duarte (R-Calif.) and Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), who voted to table Greene’s resolution last week, said they’re unconvinced by all these efforts to punish members’ comments.
“I’m fairly strong on First Amendment grounds,” Duarte told us. “If we don’t stand by the First Amendment, we’re going to end up having a censure every morning.”
