The House is back in business after a long absence during the shutdown. But since lawmakers returned to the Capitol, they have spent much of their time litigating efforts to punish members of the chamber rather than legislating.
Just this week, there have been multiple votes on measures to censure multiple lawmakers.
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Censures, a means of formally reprimanding a lawmaker without going so far as to expel them, have historically been rare; in the 200 years after Congress first convened, only 22 House members were censured. But the measures have become increasingly common in recent years. Five House lawmakers were previously censured this decade, including one earlier this year. And one of the targets of this week’s efforts—Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia of Illinois—has now joined their number as well.
The burst of complaints has brought together lawmakers from across the aisle in a push to reform the censure process.
Here’s what to know about censures, and what happened this past week.
What is a censure?
Censures are formally registered condemnations of members of Congress’ conduct. They are not as severe as expulsion, which removes a lawmaker from office and has typically been used in cases involving criminal charges—or, in the more distant past, service to the Confederacy amid the Civil War. The most recent House member to be expelled, for instance, was Rep. George Santos of New York, who was charged on multiple counts of fraud, money laundering, and stealing public funds, and later convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft following his expulsion from Congress.
Censures, by comparison, do not strip House members of their privileges, although lawmakers may decide to impose additional punishments outside of the censure proceedings, such as removing members from committee assignments.
They also require fewer votes: A two-thirds majority is needed to expel a member of the House, while a censure requires only a simple majority.
The term “censure” itself is not found in the Constitution, and the document also does not lay out the process for formally reprimanding a lawmaker or what kind of conduct could call for such actions, aside from specifying the threshold necessary for expulsion. The Constitution provides that “each House [of Congress] may determine the Rules of its proceedings, punish its members for disorderly behavior, and, with the concurrence of two-thirds, expel a member.”
Over the centuries, House members have been censured for a variety of reasons, including insult, assault, insider trading, mail fraud, and sexual misconduct with a House Page. In March, Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas was censured for conduct during a joint address by President Donald Trump which the measure brought by one of his Republican colleagues contended “disrupted the proceedings of the joint address and was a breach of proper conduct.” The last successful censure before that one was in 2023, when Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York, another Democrat, was censured for having “forced the evacuation of the Cannon House Office Building and disrupted the work of the Congress as a vote was underway on the floor of the House.” Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff of California and Rashida Tlaib of Michigan were also censured that year.
House members may also be reprimanded, a weaker rebuke of a lawmaker’s conduct than a censure.
Rep. Chuy Garcia
The Illinois Democrat was the only lawmaker to be successfully censured this week.
He was formally rebuked on Tuesday over the controversial timing of his retirement announcement, which critics accused him of planning to solidify the chances of his preferred successor replacing him.
Garcia announced his retirement just after the deadline for would-be candidates to file paperwork for next year’s race for his seat, after previously filing to run for reelection himself. The announcement left his chief of staff Patty Garcia, who had already submitted her candidacy, as the only Democrat running for the seat he had held since 2019 representing Chicago. (Patty Garcia and Rep. Garcia are not related.)
The push to censure the Illinois congressman over the decision was led by a member of his own party, Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, and 22 Democrats in total voted to reprimand him along with Republicans in the chamber.
Gluesenkamp Perez’s resolution accused Rep. Garcia of “undermining the process of a fair and free election” and contended that his conduct was “beneath the dignity of his office and incompatible with the spirit of the United States Constitution.”
Other Democrats have pushed back against the effort to reprimand their colleague.
“[Garcia] is a good man who has always prioritized the people he represents, even while experiencing unthinkable family tragedy. We unequivocally oppose this misguided resolution and urge our colleagues in the House Democratic Caucus to reject it,” House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries said in a statement.
But Gluesenkamp Perez has defended her decision, and said that it shouldn’t have drawn the reaction that it did from members of her party.
“It shouldn’t have caused as much friction as it did to speak honestly and consistently about election subversion. Congress is a legislative body, not a social club, and the American people will not accept blind calls to party loyalty in defense of an effort to deny them the right to a free and fair election,” Gluesenkamp Perez said in a statement following the vote. “Representative Chuy García has had a long career of public service, and he is retiring for honorable reasons, but election subversion is wrong no matter who’s doing it.”
Del. Stacey Plaskett
Democratic Del. Stacey Plaskett of the U.S. Virgin Islands was also the subject of a censure effort regarding texts she exchanged with the late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein—but that measure ultimately failed.
The House voted against censuring Plaskett in a 209-214-3 vote. GOP Rep. Ralph Norman, who is running for governor of South Carolina, authored the resolution.
Recently released files related to Epstein’s case showed that Plaskett texted Epstein before and during a congressional hearing in 2019 in which Trump’s former attorney Michael Cohen was questioned. In the text exchange, which House Republicans released last week among thousands of other documents from the Epstein estate, the disgraced financier appeared to provide Plaskett information in an effort to aid her questioning in the hearing.
Plaskett confirmed that she had communicated with Epstein while defending herself before the censure vote on the House floor on Tuesday night.
“I believed that Jeffrey Epstein had information, and I was going to get information to get at the truth,” Plaskett said on CNN. “Having a friendship with him is not something that I would deem to have. I’m just looking forward. I’m moving forward. I think that’s what we, as American people, should do, move forward.”
Rep. Cory Mills
In another intraparty conflict this week, GOP Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina introduced a censure resolution against fellow Republican Rep. Cory Mills of Florida over allegations related to assault, stolen valor, and contracting violations.
That censure effort also failed, with the House voting 310-103 to refer the resolution to the House Ethic Committee.
“You’re a disgrace,” Mace said to Mills on the House floor.
A Florida judge issued a protective order against Mills in October after he was accused of threatening to release sexually explicit videos of his former girlfriend, according to court filings. Mills denied wrongdoing.
Mills has also faced scrutiny this year over the Bronze Star he was awarded in 2021 for service in Iraq in 2003, after NOTUS reported in May that veterans who served with him could not recall him being present at the incidents for which he was bestowed the military honor. Mills’ chief of staff dismissed the challenges to his military accolade, saying he “earned his Bronze Star and the paperwork proves it.”
Also this year, Mills was investigated by the Metropolitan Police Department of the District Columbia in connection with a report of assault in February. Prosecutors declined to pursue misdemeanor charges against Mills, however, after Sarah Raviani, who called 911, recanted statements she had given police. A spokesperson for Mills denied any wrongdoing in a statement to Fox News. Raviani accused Mace in a post on X this week of “attempting to use my private life as a pawn for political gain” and “manufacture a narrative that simply does not exist.”
Mace’s resolution also highlighted the Office of Congressional Conduct’ finding that “there is substantial reason to believe” Mills might have held contracts with federal agencies while serving in the House, violating congressional rules. The office previously recommended that the House Ethics Committee look into the allegations.
“Congressman Mills is committed to complying with all laws and ethics rules and is pleased that the Federal Election Commission recently dismissed a complaint with similar allegations,” a spokesperson for Mills told POLITICO earlier this year, saying they trusted the ethics committee would “come to a similar conclusion.”
Prior to the vote on the censure measure against Mills, the House Ethics Committee voted on Wednesday to create an investigative subcommittee to look into the allegations. Mills put forth the motion to refer the resolution to the Ethic Committee once Mace’s censure resolution was read.
Lawmakers push to make the censure process harder
House leaders from both parties have spoken in favor of revising the censure process following the pushes to reprimand multiple lawmakers this week.
“I think censure is an extraordinary remedy, extraordinary cases, it should be used sparingly, as it has been over the history of this institution,” Speaker Mike Johnson said on Thursday.
Jeffries agreed on Thursday, saying that he was “open-minded” about reforming the censure and that the “process needs to be brought under control.”
A bipartisan bill that would raise the threshold for a censure resolution to a 60% majority rather than a simple majority has been introduced by Democratic Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia and GOP Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska.
“I just think we’ve got out of control,” Bacon said. “It should be more bipartisan when we do one.”
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