House Democrats are moving to formally reprimand Rep. Cory Mills (R-Fla.) in response to a GOP lawmaker’s effort to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.).
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) is proposing to rebuke McIver and remove her from the House Homeland Security Committee after she was charged with assault following a May scuffle outside a New Jersey immigration facility. The House is expected to take up the measure Wednesday.
McIver has denied wrongdoing and vowed to fight the federal assault charge, which Democrats have denounced as partisan.
Mills, meanwhile, has faced a spate of ethical issues including an since-withdrawn allegation of assault and an ongoing legal dispute over a previous relationship. He also faces an ethics investigation into allegations he benefited from federal contracts while in office. Democrats are targeting his north central Florida district and have sought to turn the ethical controversies into a campaign liability.
Censures have become increasingly common in recent congressional history, with the House GOP moving this Congress to reprimand Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for disrupting President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress. Three other House Democrats faced censure in the prior Congress.
Disciplinary resolutions some of the few legislative moves available to the House minority — or individual lawmakers — to circumvent majority leadership because censure motions and other moves related to discipline are “privileged,” allowing them to bypass committees to be considered on the House floor.
The Congressional Black Caucus has led Democrats’ effort to defend McIver and is pushing the move against Mills.
“LaMonica is not afraid to fight for her constituents. The Congressional Black Caucus is not afraid to fight for her,” Rep. Yvette Clarke (D-N.Y.), the CBC chair, said in a Wednesday statement. “Our defense of Congresswoman McIver, and our work to hold Mr. Mills accountable are both in service of this Caucus’ relentless pursuit of justice.”
