House Republicans censured Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) on Thursday after he falsely pulled a fire alarm in a House office building in September, hitting the New York Democrat with a congressional reprimand that liberals derided as “extreme” and “profoundly stupid.”
The chamber voted 214-191-5, mostly along party lines, on the resolution to censure Bowman. Three Democrats — Reps. Chris Pappas (N.H.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.) and Jahana Hayes (Conn.) — voted with all Republicans in favor of the censure. Four Democrats and one Republican voted “present.”
The public rebuke came more than two months after Bowman — during a high-stakes vote to avert a government shutdown Sept. 30 — falsely pulled a fire alarm in the Cannon House Office Building, triggering an evacuation.
The New York Democrat was charged with a misdemeanor Oct. 25 and pleaded guilty the next day. He entered an agreement with prosecutors that requires him to write an apology to Capitol Police and pay a $1,000 fine. Last month, the House Ethics Committee said it declined to launch an investigation into the incident.
Bowman presented himself in the well of the House chamber after the censure vote, where he was surrounded by a slew of Democrats. Reps. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) placed their hands on Bowman’s shoulders, and Pressley at one point yelled “shame.” When the censure process was complete, Democrats clapped.
“Let’s get back to work,” Bowman said.
Republicans accused Bowman of intentionally pulling the fire alarm in an attempt to delay the vote on the government funding bill. Then-Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) unveiled the “clean” continuing resolution earlier that day and quickly scheduled a vote on the measure — leaving Democrats little time to read the legislation. Democratic leadership had deployed stall tactics to buy the caucus more time to parse the bill.
Bowman, however, has insisted that he activated the alarm by accident, mistakenly thinking it would open a door he was trying to exit while rushing to cast a vote on the bill.
The congressman defended himself from censure during debate on the House floor Wednesday, reiterating that the incident was a mistake and accusing Republicans of “trying to rehash an already litigated matter.”
“Just over two months ago I was rushing to the Capitol to vote and prevent a Republican shutdown. When I tried to exit a door that I usually go through it didn’t open and due to confusion and rush to go vote, I pulled the fire alarm. I immediately took responsibility and accountability for my actions and pled guilty. Immediately,” Bowman said. “The legal process on this matter has played out. In no way did I obstruct official proceedings. The vote took place.”
Censuring lawmakers in the House is a largely symbolic act: The reprimand does not carry any repercussions other than having to stand in the well and listen to a reading of the resolution. It does, however, carry the stigma that a lawmaker has acted in a manner that was unbecoming of Congress, as determined by colleagues.
Once a rarity in the House, censuring has become more frequent amid an increase in polarization in Washington. Bowman is the 27th lawmaker to be censured in history and the third to receive the rebuke this year, following Democratic Reps. Adam Schiff (Calif.) and Rashida Tlaib (Mich.).
Democrats — including the top three liberals in the caucus — lined up to criticize the censure push during floor debate Wednesday. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) slammed the effort as “fake, fraudulent and fictitious.”
“We’re on the House floor, wasting time talking about fire alarms. Not the economy, not inflation, not affordable housing, not lowering costs, not the gun violence epidemic that continues to claim the lives of our young people all across America,” Jeffries said. “Extreme MAGA Republicans have us on the House floor talking about fire alarms. How silly is that under these circumstances?”
He also denounced the trend of GOP lawmakers censuring Democrats, arguing that the string of reprimands “has brought disgrace to the institution.”
“The effort to weaponize the censure — what happened, Mr. Speaker, to civility? To trying to foster an environment where we can solve problems on behalf of the American people?” he said.
Republicans, meanwhile, contended that it was their responsibility to hold Bowman accountable following the incident and his guilty plea. Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), the secretary of the GOP conference who sponsored the censure resolution, likened her efforts to the vote last week to expel former Rep. George Santos (R-N.Y.) after the Ethics Committee found it was likely that he violated federal criminal laws.
“The Republican majority held our own former member accountable after the House Ethics Committee found he engaged in criminal behavior. It would be hypocritical for the House Democrats to not join us in holding one of their own members accountable who actually pled guilty to breaking the law,” McClain said on the House floor.
Updated at 12:43 p.m.