Congress opts against censuring New Jersey Congresswoman due to her actions at a detention center, defying intended penalties.

House Rejects Censure Resolution Against Rep. LaMonica McIver

In a close vote, the House of Representatives has rejected a resolution to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver, a Democrat from Louisiana, who is currently facing federal charges for allegedly assaulting and interfering with immigration officers at an immigration detention facility.

The censure resolution, sponsored by Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.), recounted how McIver is alleged to have interfered with Homeland Security Investigations officials' ability to arrest an unauthorized visitor. The measure also stated that McIver's continued service on the House Homeland Security Committee was a significant conflict of interest.

The vote to table the measure was 215-207, with a majority of Republicans voting in favour of the censure. However, the censure resolution did not pass, marking a significant setback for Higgins and other Republican efforts to hold McIver accountable for her actions.

The effort to censure McIver had the backing of GOP leadership, but Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida expressed dismay with the outcome of the censure vote. Donalds stated that there are colleagues facing serious charges and they don't want to have to unpack that for the American people.

McIver was indicted on three counts of assaulting, resisting, impeding and interfering with federal officials, with two counts carrying a maximum sentence of up to eight years in prison and the third being a misdemeanor with a maximum punishment of one year in prison.

This is not the first time the House has considered censure resolutions. The House has censured members on 28 occasions before, but the punishment has increasingly been delivered on a partisan basis in recent years.

Meanwhile, Democrats have introduced a censure resolution against Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who has been accused of threatening to release intimate videos and private images of a beauty pageant titleholder after their romantic relationship ended, and is also facing an ethics investigation into campaign finance laws and holding federal contracts while in office.

The outcome of the censure vote against McIver seems to serve as a warning to Republicans that Democrats are prepared to undertake similar censure resolutions in response to the targeting of McIver. Rep. Higgins stated that he would not have moved forward with the censure resolution if McIver had withdrawn from the Homeland Security panel pending a resolution of the federal charges against her.

It remains to be seen how the federal charges against McIver will be resolved and whether the censure resolution against Mills will move forward. The House will continue to grapple with the issue of member conduct and accountability in the coming months.