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The House on Tuesday rejected a Republican-led resolution to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver and remove her from the House Homeland Security Committee, where she helps oversee immigration and national security policy, as she awaits trial on federal charges stemming from a confrontation at an ICE detention facility.
In a 215–207 vote, lawmakers approved a Democratic motion to table the measure, effectively killing it. Five Republicans joined all Democrats in blocking the censure, while two GOP members voted “present.”
The rare, heated floor fight reflected growing partisan clashes over how to handle members of Congress facing criminal indictments.
The charges and controversy
McIver, D-N.J., was indicted in July on three counts of assaulting, resisting, and interfering with federal officers during an April visit to a 1,000-bed privately operated ICE detention facility in Newark. Prosecutors say she shoved and struck Homeland Security Investigations officers as they tried to arrest Newark Mayor Ras Baraka, who had joined the congressional delegation but lacked clearance to enter the site. Baraka’s charges were later dropped, and he is suing DHS for what he called malicious prosecution.
McIver, who pleaded not guilty, faces up to eight years in prison on two of the counts. She has refused calls to step down from the Homeland Security panel, which oversees the very agencies now central to her case.
Republicans argued her continued service was an unacceptable conflict of interest. “We have a member of Congress who assaulted an ICE officer. I don’t even know what we’re doing anymore,” said Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla.
The resolution, authored by Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., detailed the charges and cited body-camera and DHS video that appeared to show McIver pushing officers.
Democrats rally to her defense
Democrats closed ranks around McIver, with members of the Congressional Black Caucus denouncing the resolution as a partisan attempt to weaken a freshman lawmaker.
“The censure attempt against me has failed. Rightfully so. It was a baseless, partisan effort to shut me up,” McIver posted afterward on social media. “I was not elected to play political games — I was elected to serve. I won’t back down. Not now. Not ever.”
Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-N.Y., the CBC chair, hailed the outcome as “a breath of fresh air in such a toxic environment.”
Escalating censure battles
The House has censured members 28 times in its history, but the punishment has become increasingly partisan in recent years.
Democrats retaliated almost immediately by introducing their own censure resolution against Rep. Cory Mills, R-Fla., who is accused by a former beauty pageant titleholder of threatening to release intimate images after their breakup — allegations Mills denies. Mills also faces an ethics probe into possible campaign finance and contracting violations.
“There are colleagues on the other side of the aisle that have very serious charges against them, and we don’t want to have to unpack that for the American people,” Clarke warned.
What’s next
McIver, who won her seat in a 2024 special election after the death of Rep. Donald Payne Jr., is scheduled to stand trial in November.
Higgins suggested he might not have moved forward with the resolution had McIver voluntarily stepped aside from the Homeland Security Committee until her case is resolved. “We didn’t expect it to fail. We knew it would be close, but it’s quite disappointing,” he said.
For now, McIver remains on the committee, her case highlighting the increasingly political use of censure in a closely divided House.
