Division between Republicans and Democrats continues to grow, and so do the spectacles that take place to show their disagreements with the other party. We’ve seen profanity-laced speeches, a vocal interruption of President Trump’s joint address to Congress, and House Democrats singing on the chamber floor. These disruptions of decorum are being met with punishment handed down from leadership.
Censure is the main form of punishment being discussed in the media lately. House Democrat Al Green was the latest member to get censured for his verbal protest during President Trump’s joint address. As more protests continue to happen on Capitol Hill, more censures will continue to happen, but the question is, what does censure entail?
According to the United States Senate, censure is “a formal statement of disapproval in the form of a resolution that is adopted by majority vote.” Censure doesn’t remove a member from office, but it does show the public that much of the respected body of Congress does not agree with the member of Congress’ actions.
Despite censure blowing up in the media over the past few weeks, the practice is rare over the course of American history. Only 38 members of Congress have been censured since the country’s beginning. 28 of those censured were members of the House.
The first-ever recorded censure happened in 1811. Senator Thomas Pickering received the punishment for reading classified documents in an open Senate hearing before the label of secrecy could be removed. Pickering lost his re-election bid soon after his censure.
Other punishments that can be handed down in Congress include exclusion and expulsion. Exclusion requires a majority vote and forces the member to miss a meeting. Expulsion requires a 2/3rd majority vote and strips a member of their seat in Congress.
Currently, the only punishments being discussed for disruption are censure and potentially being stripped from committees they sit on. As tensions grow, there is potential for more division and harsher penalties.
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