House Votes to Censure Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman
House members voted Thursday to censure Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York for triggering a fire alarm in a U.S. Capitol office building when the chamber was in session.
The Republican resolution passed 214-191 with just a few Democratic votes. Bowman now becomes the third Democratic House member to be admonished this year with a censure, a punishment one step below expulsion from the House.
Michigan Rep. Lisa McClain, who introduced the resolution, said Bowman pulled the alarm in September to “cause chaos and the stop the House from doing its business” as lawmakers scrambled to pass a bill to fund the government before a shutdown deadline.
“It is reprehensible that a Member of Congress would go to such lengths to prevent House Republicans from bringing forth a vote to keep the government operating and Americans receiving their paychecks,” McClain said in a statement.
Bowman defended himself Wednesday during floor debate.
“It’s painfully obvious to myself, my colleagues and the American people that the Republican Party is deeply unserious and unable to legislate,” he said. “Their censure resolution against me today continues to demonstrate their inability to govern and serve the American people.”
Bowman pleaded guilty in October to a misdemeanor count for the incident, which took place in the Cannon House Office Building. He agreed to pay a $1,000 fine and serve three months of probation, after which the charge is expected to be dismissed from his record under an agreement with prosecutors.
The fire alarm prompted an evacuation while the House was in session and staffers were working in the building. The building was reopened an hour later after Capitol police determined there was no threat.
Bowman apologized and said he pulled the alarm because he thought it would open a locked door.
He is the 27th lawmaker to be censured by the House — and the third just this year.
Last month, Republicans voted to censure Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan in a rebuke of her anti-Semitic rhetoric about the Israel-Hamas war. In June, Democrat Adam Schiff of California was censured for spreading false claims about then-President Donald Trump in 2017.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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