U.S. Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., arrives for a House Republican members meeting as the conference debated the race for speaker of the House at the U.S. Capitol on Oct. 19, 2023, in Washington, D.C. ( Photo by Win McNamee/Getty Images)
WASHINGTON — Minnesota Democratic U.S. Rep. Ilhan Omar could face a censure vote as soon as next week, after a Nebraska Republican filed a resolution condemning comments she made during a visit to protests at Columbia University last month.
Rep. Don Bacon’s four-page resolution says during the visit Omar “referred to Jewish students as ‘pro-genocide’” and argues that her “comments against Jewish students could inflame violence against the Jewish community.”
The censure resolution also seeks to rebuke Omar for comments she’s made as far back as 2012, including a post from six years ago that read, “Drawing attention to the apartheid Israeli regime is far from hating Jews.”
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Bacon posted Tuesday about introducing the resolution on a social media account for his reelection campaign.
“Today, I introduced a resolution to censure Ilhan Omar for her antisemitic rhetoric,” Bacon wrote. “We must stop the pro-Hamas agitators wreaking havoc on college campuses, and that starts by holding their enablers in Congress accountable.”
Jacklyn Rogers, spokesperson for Omar, said in a written statement that the congresswoman “clearly condemned antisemitism and bigotry for all Jewish students.”
“Attempts to misconstrue her words are meant to distract from the ongoing violence and genocide occurring in Gaza and the large antiwar protests happening across our country and around the world,” Rogers wrote.
The censure vote, should House GOP leaders choose to schedule it, won’t be the first of the 118th Congress.
House Republicans voted to censure New York Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman in December for pulling a fire alarm in a House office building, Michigan Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib in November for comments she made following the start of the Israel-Hamas war and California Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff in June for public remarks related to former President Donald Trump.
During the last Congress, when Democrats controlled the House, they voted to censure Arizona Republican Rep. Paul Gosar for posting “a manipulated video on his social media accounts depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joseph Biden.”
Bacon voted to censure all three Democratic lawmakers and against censuring Gosar.
Bacon’s censure resolution is co-sponsored by South Carolina Rep. Joe Wilson, Wisconsin Rep. Derrick Van Orden and New York Rep. Claudia Tenney, all Republicans.
A censure resolution “registers the House’s deep disapproval of Member misconduct that, nevertheless, does not meet the threshold for expulsion,” according to a post by the Office of the Historian.
“Once the House approves the sanction by majority vote, the censured Member must stand in the well of the House … while the Speaker or presiding officer reads aloud the censure resolution and its preamble as a form of public rebuke.”
A total of 27 House members have been censured.
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