Posted on 11/07/23
| News Source: The Hill
The House advanced a resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) on Tuesday, teeing up a final vote on legislation penalizing the Michigan Democrat for her criticism of Israel following Hamas’s attack on the U.S. ally last month.
The chamber defeated a Democratic-led motion to kill the resolution 208-213-1.
One Democrat voted to advance the resolution, while six Republicans voted to table it.
Democratic leadership had urged members to shelve the legislation. The majority of the caucus defended Tlaib’s right to make the controversial comments, citing the First Amendment, despite most disagreeing with her words.
The House will now debate the resolution sponsored by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.). A final vote is expected Wednesday, and the measure requires majority support in the chamber.
While symbolic, censure measures carry little weight. There are no repercussions for the nonbinding resolution following the vote, though it carries the stigma of being disciplined by a lawmaker’s colleagues.
Tuesday’s vote marked the second time in a week that the House weighed in on a resolution to censure Tlaib — the only Palestinian American serving in Congress — for her comments in the wake of Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Twenty-three Republicans joined Democrats last week in voting to kill a Tlaib censure resolution sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), with some voicing concern with the language in the legislation, which accused Tlaib of “inciting an insurrection” for her participation in an anti-war protest.
Greene revised her resolution over the weekend, and the House is scheduled to hold a separate procedural vote on the legislation Tuesday evening.