House censures Gosar over cartoon

WASHINGTON — The tense relationship between House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy hit another low Wednesday as the leaders sparred over Democrats’ censure of a Republican member who shared a violent animated video of himself killing a Democratic colleague.

Pelosi, D-Calif., questioned McCarthy’s leadership, while McCarthy, RCalif., all but assured Pelosi that House Republicans will retaliate by stripping Democrats of committee assignments when they regain control of the chamber, a reality that could come as soon as January 2023 after next November’s midterm elections. The latest clash played out as Rep. Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., became the first member to be censured by the House in more than 10 years and the second Republican to be stripped of committee assignments this year. The vote was 223-207.

House Republican leaders recommended their members vote “no” on the resolution to censure Gosar.

The censure comes 10 days after the Arizona Republican posted, and later deleted, a cartoon video with his face superimposed on a character who kills someone with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s face and wields swords against President Joe Biden.

A censure is a public rebuke of a member’s misconduct. The action is more severe than a reprimand but not as serious as expulsion. A censure resolution is approved by a majority vote and requires the censured member to stand in the well of the House as the speaker or the presiding officer of the chamber reads the resolution aloud. Gosar serves on two panels, the Oversight and Reform Committee and the Natural Resources Committee. Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y., is also a member of the Oversight Committee.

But Wednesday’s vote is not just about the fate of Gosar and his committee assignments. It’s also about the future of Congress and whether it will become common for the majority party to remove controversial members of the minority party from committees.