What does censure mean in Congress? Here's what awaits Rep. Rashida Tlaib
The Republican-controlled House of Representatives voted Tuesday to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan.
It's not the first, second or even 10th time a member of Congress has been censured. Before Tuesday's proceedings, the House had censured more than two dozen other representatives for reasons ranging from supporting the Confederacy during the Civil War to sexual misconduct with House pages.
Why was Rep. Rashida Tlaib Censured?
The resolution reproaches Tlaib, an outspoken critic of U.S. foreign policy towards Israel, for allegedly “calling for the destruction of the state of Israel” and “promoting false narratives” about the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian militant group Hamas.
The resolution notes, among other things, that Tlaib has claimed that Israel was responsible for a recent explosion at a Gaza hospital, contradicting conclusions backed by President Joe Biden, Israel, and U.S. intelligence officials that Israel was not behind the blast.
It also cites her defense of the pro-Palestinian slogan "from the river to the sea," a reference to the Jordan River on Israel's eastern border and its western coast with the Mediterranean Sea, which many interpret as calling for the eradication of the state of Israel. Tlaib has said the phrase is instead "an aspirational call for freedom, human rights and peaceful coexistence."
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What does censure mean in Congress?
Thirty years before the House's first expulsion, representatives began censuring their colleagues to formally document disapproval.
Censures do not cause removal from office. Rather, they require the censured member to stand in the "well" of the House while the House speaker reads the censure resolution, start to finish. Officially, they do not bring a material consequence. However, the punishment could include the stripping of one's committee positions and an investigation by a committee.
What happens after a member of Congress is censured?
Because a censure does not remove a member of Congress from office, they may return to their duties. However, the U.S. Senate, which can also censure its members, says on its website that censuring "can have a powerful psychological effect on a member and his/her relationships in the Senate." The same is true in the House, as members and constituents may lose trust in someone who has been censured.
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Have any members of Congress from Arizona been censured?
In the U.S. House of Representatives, only one Arizona elected official has been censured.
In 2021, Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., stood in the well of Congress after he posted an anime video of himself killing fellow Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and attacking Biden.
The resolution was agreed to mostly along party lines with Republican Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., voting to censure and Rep. David Joyce, R-Ohio., voting present.
During the floor debate, Gosar said that "no threat was intended" and said that he took the video down "not because it was itself a threat, but because some thought it was. Out of compassion for those who generally felt offense, I self-censored."
Censure has also been in the news for Arizona elected officials on a state level.
Earlier this year, the GOP-controlled state House of Representatives censured state Rep. Stephanie Stahl Hamilton, D-Tucson, for hiding two bibles under seat cushions and in a refrigerator as what she said was a "simple little prank."