Epstein texts and yelling at Trump: US House’s year of censures | US Congress

They also spent plenty of time seeking to reprimand each other by passing censures, as the House’s formal mechanism for discipline is known. A search on Congress.gov reveals at least 17 attempts since the start of the year to condemn another lawmaker, in the form of a censure or a less formal disapproval resolution.

If a censure resolution is approved by a majority of the chamber, the targeted lawmaker must stand before the House dais as the speaker informs them that they have been punished for their bad behavior. That’s as far as the consequences go – they keep their seat and their right to vote, but perhaps not their reputation.

Though almost none of these passed, the flurry grew so intense that by the end of the year, a bipartisan group of lawmakers proposed changing the rules to make it more difficult for censures to succeed. “How about we stop the circular firing squad in the House?” asked Republican Don Bacon, one of the bill’s sponsors.

Calling Musk a ‘dick’

Republican congresswoman Nancy Mace introduced the first censure attempt of the year in February against Democrat Robert Garcia. Mace’s measure accuses Garcia of “inciting violence against a special government employee” – meaning Elon Musk, who was then in Trump’s best graces as the leader of the “department of government efficiency”. The measure cites an instance in which Garcia – in a rather roundabout fashion – called Musk a “dick” at a committee hearing, and a comment he made to CNN about how his fellow Democrats should “bring actual weapons to this bar fight” against Musk. The House did not end up voting on it.

Yelling at the president

The newly re-elected Donald Trump appeared to be at the height of his powers when he addressed a joint session of Congress in early March. But Democrat Al Green was not having it. Pumping a walking cane in the air, Green interrupted Trump, shouting “he has no mandate”. The House speaker, Mike Johnson, had Green forcibly removed, and three Republicans introduced censure resolutions targeting him. Two days after the speech, the House passed Washington congressman Dan Newhouse’s measure, with 10 Democrats voting in favor, along with all Republicans. Democratic lawmakers surrounded Green and sang We Shall Overcome as Johnson read the censure.

(In response to that scene, Republican congressman Eli Crane proposed, unsuccessfully, another resolution that would have thrown Green off the financial services committee). Newhouse’s resolution remains the only censure to actually win approval in 2025, but the wave of acrimony was far from finished.

Wallowing in racial stereotypes

Four days after Green was censured, Democratic congresswoman Chrissy Houlahan proposed censuring Republican congresswoman Lauren Boebert, who said the following about Green in an interview with a rightwing broadcaster: “For him to go and shake his pimp cane at President Trump was absolutely abhorrent.” The resolution accused Boebert of using language that is “disparaging, derogatory, and racist toward another colleague”, but was not considered on the House floor.

Making light of the Texas governor’s wheelchair

In March, Republican congressman Randy Weber of Texas proposed censuring Democratic fellow Texan Jasmine Crockett for calling Greg Abbott – the state’s Republican governor who has used a wheelchair for decades after being paralyzed by a falling tree – “Governor Hot Wheels” and “a hot ass mess”. This also did not come up for a vote.

Confronting ICE

Republicans filed two censure resolutions against New Jersey Democrat LaMonica McIver after she was arrested and charged with felonies following an altercation outside an ICE detention facility in Newark. The resolution introduced by Republican Clay Higgins was brought up in the House, only for Democrats and a handful of Republicans to collaborate in killing it. This would be the first of several instances this year in which small groups of lawmakers crossed party lines to put down a censure attempt.

More racism

Tennessee Republican Andy Ogles was the target of two censure resolutions over the summer, for discriminatory comments made about the incoming New York City mayor, Zohran Mamdani and other Democrats of color. Democrat Shri Thanedar proposed Ogles’s censure in June for social media posts in which he dubbed Mamdani “little muhammad” and called for him to be deported. The following month, Democrat Ritchie Torres introduced a censure resolution after Ogles called Hakeem Jeffries, the African American House minority leader, “Discount Dollar Store Obama”. Neither resolution was put up for a vote.

Questioning the deeds of Charlie Kirk

One of only two Muslim women in Congress and the only Somali American, Democrat Ilhan Omar is a perpetual target of Trump and his Republican allies. In the aftermath of Charlie Kirk’s murder, Mace proposed censuring Omar and booting her off two committees for comments in which she “disparaged” his character as well as those who mourned the conservative activist’s death, according to her resolution. Democrats succeeded in killing it thanks to help from, again, a small group of Republicans. Jeff Hurd, one of four GOP lawmakers to vote the motion down, called Omar’s comments “ghoulish and evil” but said: “The right response to reprehensible speech like this isn’t silencing: it’s more speech. That’s what Charlie Kirk believed and practiced, and I agree.”

‘Undermining the process of a free and fair election’

The censure wave peaked in November, when, in the midst of a pivotal vote to end the government shutdown, Democrat Marie Gluesenkamp Perez went to the House floor and alleged that fellow Democrat Chuy Garcia orchestrated his retirement in such a way to guarantee that his chief of staff would be elected to replace him. The resolution “disapproves of [his] behavior” for “undermining the process of a free and fair election”, but was not technically a censure. It sparked outrage from some in Perez’s party but ended up passing, with most Republicans and 23 Democrats voting in support.

Texting Jeffrey Epstein

As the bill to compel the release of government-held files related to late sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was nearing passage, the Washington Post reported that Democrat Stacey Plaskett, the non-voting delegate from the US Virgin Islands, had texted with Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing. The GOP saw a moment to make Democrats – who had for months pressed for release of the Epstein files – practice what they preached, and Congressman Ralph Norman proposed censuring Plaskett. His resolution failed thanks to united Democratic opposition and the votes of three Republicans.

A wide range of alleged misdeeds

Florida Republican Cory Mills was the target of three separate censure resolutions this year that wound up sparking allegations of party leaders scheming to kill competing censure attempts. In response to the attempt to censure McIver, Democrat Yvette Clarke introduced the first resolution in September, which said that Mills had on “several occasions conducted himself in a manner that reflects discredit” on the House, citing reports the congressman abused romantic partners, committed financial misconduct and misrepresented his military service. The congressman denied wrongdoing, and Clarke’s resolution wound up being withdrawn at the same time that a few Republicans joined with Democrats to block the censure of Omar.

Clarke filed a substantially similar measure on the same day as the Epstein files vote in November, and the following day, Mace introduced her own censure resolution against Mills. The Florida congressman made a motion to refer Mace’s proposal to the ethics committee rather than bring it up for a vote, which succeeded with the support of many Democrats. That prompted some Republican women to allege that House leaders brokered a deal to protect Mills in exchange for voting down the censure of Plaskett.

“This backroom deal shit is swampy, wrong and always deserves to be called out,” Florida Republican Kat Cammack later said.

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