Several Republicans joined all House Democrats in voting to sink a GOP-led measure to formally condemn Rep. Ilhan Omar and remove her from her committees.
The 214-213 vote ended an effort by Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) to censure Omar and strip her of all her committee assignments over her criticism of the late conservative political activist Charlie Kirk. Omar has strenuously denied directly making the comments cited by Mace, and House Democrats rallied behind her.
“This is political theater. This is BS meant to bolster [Mace’s] gubernatorial bid,” House Minority Whip Katherine Clark told reporters earlier Wednesday. “And frankly, she’s trying to monetize this.”
Four Republicans — Reps. Mike Flood of Nebraska, Jeff Hurd of Colorado, Tom McClintock of California and Cory Mills of Florida — supported the motion to kill Mace’s measure.
Mace said the GOP opposition was “unbelievable” in comments after the vote. “It’s really gross, very disappointing,” she said. A reporter overheard her telling a colleague that she had sent the four Republicans’ names to President Donald Trump.
Mills called his vote “a constitutional First Amendment issue,” while Flood told reporters he condemned Omar’s remarks but believed they should be investigated by the House Ethics Committee before any disciplinary action is taken.
Flood also warned of the potential consequences for Republicans in a Democratic Congress if Omar was censured: “What goes around comes around.”
Omar said she was “glad that there are at least four [Republicans] that are left that believe in the First Amendment and are willing to protect the rights of members to not be punished for things that they haven’t done.”
Asked about Mace, Omar said, “I hope she does get the help she needs.”
Mace brought up her measure through a fast-track process bypassing committees. Democrats immediately responded, with Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) calling up a retaliatory censure of Mills, who is subject to an ethics investigation and a restraining order proceeding. Rep. Marc Veasey (D-Texas) also signaled he would file articles of impeachment against Attorney General Pam Bondi and FBI Director Kash Patel in response.
Omar, a Minnesota progressive, has long been a magnet for GOP criticism. The House GOP voted last Congress to boot Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee. A small group of Republicans privately debated the potential fallout from a censure before Wednesday’s vote, aware it could trigger a deeper escalation of partisan censure efforts.
“People forget that we can be in the minority someday,” one House Republican said. “But it’s also hard to defend her comments.”
Democrats are now expected to pull back on their retaliatory measures. A similar Mills censure effort was dropped after a GOP-led effort targeting Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) was defeated on the House floor earlier this month.
Ben Jacobs and Calen Razor contributed to this report.
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