US House kills censure motion against Rep. Rashida Tlaib

The U.S. House voted Wednesday evening to kill a resolution to censure U.S. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Detroit, for claims leveled at her by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., of antisemitic conduct including criticism of Israel following the attacks by Hamas last month.

Twenty-three Republicans, including Michigan U.S. Reps. Bill Huizenga, of Holland Township, John Moolenaar, of Caledonia, and Tim Walberg, of Tipton, voted with 199 Democrats to table the resolution, effectively killing it, though another resolution could be introduced. The final tally was 222-186 with 25 members not voting.

All of Michigan's Democratic U.S. House members voted to table the resolution. Three state Republicans − U.S. Reps. Jack Bergman of Watersmeet, John James of Shelby Township and Lisa McClain of Bruce Township − voted to keep Greene's censure resolution alive.

Tlaib didn't directly comment on the censure resolution being tabled but her office said it stood by her statement last week calling Greene's resolution "unhinged" and that she would continue to call for a cease-fire in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip, where a ground invasion has begun after weeks of missile strikes in response to Hamas' Oct. 7 attack. "I will not be bullied, I will not be dehumanized and I will not be silenced," she said in that statement.

After the Hamas attack, Tlaib, a sharp critic of Israel and the only Palestinian-American in Congress, initially issued an equivocal statement in which she denounced the violence but also laid blame for it on what she called Israel's "apartheid" government. Israel, along with Egypt, have maintained an economically crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip since 2005, restricting movement and controlling electricity and other essential services.

Walberg issued a statement Wednesday saying he couldn't vote to censure Tlaib even though he has consistently supported Israel and denounced antisemitism that has increased since the Hamas attacks. "As much as I disagree with previous comments made by Rep. Tlaib, First Amendment liberties are for every American, and I will support this constitutional right whether the speaker is on the political left or right and whether they are speaking heinous lies or harsh truths," he said. "When we hear evil speech, we should not look to the government for the answer but rather speak up as individuals to denounce it."

Huizenga put out a similar statement, saying, "I wholeheartedly reject what Representative Tlaib said regarding the terrorist attack against Israel. However, we cannot pick and choose when the constitutional protections of the First Amendment apply."

Greene filed the privileged resolution — which had to be decided upon within two legislative days under the rules — last week, saying Tlaib has a history of making antisemitic remarks.

Despite her initial statement, Tlaib has said, however, that both Hamas' attack and the response by Israel, which Palestinian authorities say has killed thousands, qualify as war crimes and that the Biden administration must do more to protect civilians living the occupied Palestinian territories.

Much of Greene's resolution was specious, including claims that Tlaib led an "insurrection" in the Capitol. Last month, Tlaib and another U.S. House member spoke to a group of protesters calling for a cease-fire outside the Capitol but she was not with them when they entered a House building and began demonstrating. Several hundred were arrested.

Tlaib could still face censure: Bergman, who oversaw the vote from the speaker's chair on Wednesday, has also said he intends to file a censure motion against Tlaib for her remarks following the Hamas attack, though he did not indicate it would be a privileged motion. Under regular order it would be referred to the House Ethics Committee to be considered.

If Tlaib were to be censured, she would become the 26th U.S. House member in history to be so. The resolution carries no specific punishment but does generally require that the member stand before the chamber and have the resolution against them read aloud.

Greene, who once suggested that California wildfires were set by Jewish "space lasers" and was stripped of her committee assignments in the last Congress for incendiary statements she had made before being elected, had faced a censure motion against her as well. Last week, after Greene filed her motion against Tlaib, U.S. Rep. Becca Balint, D-Vermont, filed a privileged censure resolution against her for those remarks as well as others she characterized as antisemitic, anti-LGBTQ+, anti-Muslim and racist as well as statements casting doubt on the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, and suggesting the Parkland high school shooting was a "false flag" event planned or staged to try to take people's firearms.

In his statement, Walberg said Balint's censure resolution against Greene was withdrawn.

Contact Todd Spangler: tspangler@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter@tsspangler.

This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: US House kills censure motion against Rep. Rashida Tlaib