The House on Tuesday voted overwhelmingly to censure Rep. Chuck Edwards, the North Carolina Republican whom the House Ethics Committee found last month had engaged in “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct” toward two female staffers.
In a 413-2 vote, the chamber followed through on the House Ethics Committee’s recommendation that Edwards be censured after an investigation from the panel found that the congressman had partaken in “persistent unprofessional and inappropriate conduct” toward the two staffers.
As the votes poured in, Edwards sat at the front of the floor, shoulders slumped as he spoke briefly with the House chaplain. He voted against his own censure, alongside Rep. Ralph Norman (R-South Carolina).
Immediately after the vote, Edwards stood before the dais as his censure was read out loud as his colleagues looked on. He then followed House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) out of the floor.
“I find it particularly interesting that on this very day we’re passing a bill to condemn communism and socialism,” Edwards said after the vote, referencing a measure denouncing socialism in the United States and promoting voting reforms championed by President Donald Trump that passed the House on Tuesday, largely on party lines. “Yet this ethics investigation is very much akin to a Russian show trial.”
He added that he was not at all surprised by the vote’s result because “it would not have been politically expedient for anyone to vote against a resolution accusing someone of sexual harassment.”
The vote was a rare bipartisan rebuke of a sitting lawmaker by their colleagues. It marked the first time the majority party voted overwhelmingly to censure one of its own in over 15 years.
While the panel found that Edwards did not engage in sexual activity with or explicitly proposition any of his staffers, it did find that he was aware “that his excessive attention toward the young women had led to rumors and innuendo in the office,” according to the committee’s report.
Edwards dropped his reelection bid in his competitive district following the committee’s report, but has maintained he did nothing wrong. He took to the House floor ahead of the censure vote to argue that he committed no crime, and that he did not break House rules.
Edwards also apologized to the two staffers in his floor speech, saying he was sorry that “my actions, my judgment, or the way that I express … friendship ever put either of you in an uncomfortable position.”
Edwards, however, said that “regret is not an admission of sexual harassment.”
The lawmaker made a similar argument in a 22-page letter sentto House colleagues last week, in which he urged them to vote against the censure effort.
House rules do not explicitly prohibit members from befriending staff or spending time together socially. Members are prohibited from having sexual relationships with their staff.
The House Ethics Committee concluded that while Edwards believed that none of his conduct was intended as a sexual or romantic advance, his behavior patterns “would lead a reasonable observer to interpret it as such.”
Although censure votes have become increasingly common in recent Congresses, the vote is the first this century in which a censure effort against a member of the majority party succeeded.
Censure efforts have had mixed results in recent decades. Several lawmakers — mostly Democrats, including Rep. Al Green (Texas), former congressman Jamaal Bowman (New York), and Rep. Rashida Tlaib (Michigan) — have been censured in the last five years. Attempts to censure other lawmakers, including Rep. Cory Mills (R-Florida) and Rep. Jesús “Chuy” García (D-Illinois) have failed however.
Censure is one of three ways the House can choose to discipline a member, the other two being a reprimand and an expulsion. Being censured does not necessarily remove a lawmaker from their committee assignments or restrict their voting abilities — the House would have to vote on separate measures to do that.
Taking such additional actions against Edwards could disturb the GOP’s ability to pass legislation. Republicans hold a razor-thin majority in the chamber.
Some Democrats, however, have demanded that Edwards resign from the House.
After Edwards spoke on the floor, Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-New Mexico), chair of the Democratic Women’s Caucus, took over the lectern, and said Edwards should lose his seat, arguing that it is “obvious that Edwards refuses to understand sexual harassment or his abuse of power.”
While it is rare for the majority party to censure one of their own members, several House Republicans said Tuesday that they felt like Edwards had to face consequences for his actions as outlined by the Ethics report.
“If the Ethics Committee comes back with findings that are clearly objective, I’m going to support the chairman of the Ethics Committee,” said Rep. Don Bacon (R-Nebraska).
The post House GOP censures one of its own over conduct with female staffers appeared first on Washington Post.
