Democratic legislators are expressing dissatisfaction with the escalating use of censure in recent years, and are seeking to address the issue.
House Speaker Mike Johnson seems to be in agreement with this initiative.
Several lawmakers have expressed to Axios their concern over the rise in censure attempts, viewing it as a partisan weapon. They believe that measures need to be taken to curb this trend.
Democratic Representative Jim Himes (CT-4) voiced his frustration with the public reprimand, stating, "I am in camp 'shut this s*** down.' We'll spend the next year censuring each other. It's bulls***. We need due process."
His fellow Democrat, Representative Don Beyer (VA-8), is advocating for a higher threshold for a successful censure, which currently only requires a simple majority. "I've been circulating legislation ... to move it to 60%," Beyer disclosed, adding, "we're just using it as a partisan tool, which I hate."
According to Axios, Beyer also suggested that some of his colleagues in the House would prefer the threshold to be raised to a two-thirds majority.
This discussion comes amidst a series of reciprocal censure attempts, each with a significant degree of legitimacy.
A failed attempt was made earlier this week to censure Democratic Delegate Stacey Plaskett (VI-At Large) for allegedly texting with disgraced sex offender Jeffrey Epstein during a congressional hearing and directing her questioning of a witness based on his advice.
In response, Democrats threatened to censure Republican Representative Cory Mills (FL-7), who is reportedly facing allegations of domestic violence, sexual misconduct, stolen valor, false financial disclosures, and campaign finance violations. This effort was forced to a vote by Republican Representative Nancy Mace (SC-1), as Democrats have been using Mills as a shield to protect their own. The matter was referred to the House Ethics Committee on Wednesday.
Now, Democratic Representative Sheila Cherfilus-McCormick (FL-20) is also under threat of censure following her indictment for allegedly embezzling $5 million in a FEMA funds scheme.
As reported by RedState, a seemingly exasperated House Speaker expressed his willingness to consider raising the threshold for censures, stating, "We don't want this to become commonplace. It should be an extreme measure for extreme cases."
However, one might question where this initiative to increase the censure threshold was when Republican Representative Paul Gosar (AZ-9) was formally censured by the House of Representatives and stripped of his committee assignments in 2021 for posting an anime cartoon video on the internet.
Critics argue that this is a clear tactic by the Democrats, who are only interested in tightening censure requirements now because their members have repeatedly been involved in actions that warrant censure. They have also lost their only bargaining chip in Mills, who is equally deserving of censure. Furthermore, Democrats are aware that they will always stand united in protecting their members, making any future censure attempts against their party likely to fail under the new requirements.
The situations involving Plaskett, who allegedly collaborated with a sex trafficker, and Cherfilus-McCormick, whose case is reportedly so severe that expulsion should be considered, highlight the need for censure. Democratic Representative Ilhan Omar (MN-5), who was ironically saved by a vote from Mills, should have been censured in September for her controversial comments following the assassination of Charlie Kirk.
The argument continues that censure is merely a mild reprimand, akin to a slap on the wrist with a ruler. The question arises: which of the aforementioned actions does not warrant such a gentle rebuke, aside from Gosar's?
The move to make it more difficult to police its own members could be seen as a sign that the House is losing touch with reality. A possible solution to the frequent use of censure could be for members to refrain from engaging in questionable activities.
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