BREAKING: Jamaal Bowman censured in the House

On Wednesday, the US House of Representatives voted to censure Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) for pulling a fire alarm in a congressional office building. Three Democrats voted against him, 15 did not voted, 4 voted present, and 191 voted not to censure him. 211 Republicans voted against him, with one voting present.

Earlier this year, Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) were censured by the House.



A House ethics panel declined to investigate Bowman for his actions but a censure would serve as a formal rebuke of the Democratic congressman.

Rep. Lisa McClain (R-MI), introduced the censure resolution on Tuesday as “privileged.” As a result, House leadership is required to act on the measure within two legislative days. A final vote on the motion is expected as early as Thursday.

In September, Bowman pulled the fire alarm that resulted in an evacuation of the Cannon House Office Building before a vote on a spending bill. Though the progressive “Squad” member agreed to a plea deal that resulted in a misdemeanor count and apologized for the incident, he has still denied that his actions were an attempt to delay a vote.

McClain posted on X, “Actions must be met with consequences. Rep. Bowman pulling a fire alarm to curtail an act of Congress was unacceptable and against the law. For that, he must stand before Congress and accept Censure.”

Democrats attempted a motion to table the measure but failed by a vote of 216-201. 16 house members did not vote and Rep. Susan Wild (D-PA), who is the ranking member of the ethics panel that refused to investigate Bowman, voted “present.”

Bowman said during the debate on the motion, “Unfortunately, Republicans are here trying to rehash an already litigated matter, a matter in which the Republican-controlled House committee of ethics decided to not proceed with any further investigation. This is an insult to the people I was elected to represent.”

According to the Daily Wire, former Rep. George Santos attempted to force a vote in the House to expel Bowman the day before the New York Republican was expelled from the chamber. This followed the release of a House Ethics Committee report on his alleged misconduct, already having been charged with 23 federal counts, including aggravated identity theft, conspiracy, and wire fraud.