The House will vote Tuesday on a resolution disapproving of Rep. Steve King’s comments to the New York Times that were deemed racist, but many Democrats are wary of going further by formally censuring him.
The disapproval resolution, authored by House Majority Whip James Clyburn, D-S.C., is backed by most in the Democratic caucus but does not go far enough for some in the party, who want to censure King. But that’s much more serious punishment that lawmakers, including many Democratic leaders, are seeking to avoid.
House Majority Whip Steny Hoyer, D-Md., said Tuesday he isn’t ruling out a vote on a censure resolution, but signaled it’s an option the party may not take.
“We’ll see,” said Hoyer, who backs the Clyburn resolution. “We haven’t definitely decided what the next step is going to be.”
Democrats’ zeal to punish King may be been blunted by Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., who on Monday stripped King of every one of his committee assignments. Such a move will hurt King’s re-election chances if he remains in Congress.
Lawmakers in the House and Senate rarely punish their own, and a censure resolution is considered a last-resort action against a sitting member.
The House last voted to censure a lawmaker in December 2010, when the GOP Majority, with the help of many Democrats, censured then-Rep. Charlie Rangel, D-N.Y., for “misuse of congressional letterhead for fundraising, impermissible use of rent-controlled facility for campaign headquarters and inaccurate financial reports and federal tax returns,” according to House records.
Prior to Rangel, House lawmakers hadn’t voted to censure a lawmaker since 1983 when they voted to censure Rep. Daniel Crane, R-Ill., for sexual misconduct with a House page.
A censure is considered one step down from a vote to expel a member and is rarely employed, in part because lawmakers fear partisan retaliation.
In this case, Hoyer acknowledged, punishing King for his statements that appeared to defend “white nationalism” and “white supremacy” could push Republicans to turn the tables and seek punishment for a few House Democrats who have associated themselves with figures such as Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan who has expressed anti-Semitic remarks.
The current decision to reprimand and not censure King has angered some Democrats who say King has a history of making racist statements. King has tried to clarify his remarks to the New York Times and said he was defending the term “western civilization” and not “white supremacy” or “white nationalism.”
Democrats were not mollified by King’s defense. Rep. Bobby Rush, D-Ill., authored a censure resolution and wants Democratic leaders to bring it to the floor. He plans to vote against the resolution of disapproval.
“Anything short of censure is shallow,” Rush said Tuesday. “Steve King has made a career of making racist statements. That is the only thing he is known for and this pattern of rabid racism must be confronted head on by the House of Representatives.”
Rush said he plans to try to bring up the censure resolution under special House rules.
“Yesterday, the notice I provided of my privileged resolution to formally censure the member from Iowa, started the clock for a floor vote to punish him for his bigotry and racism,” Rush said Tuesday. “We need to be clear to the American people that we use condemnation to express our disapproval of those not in the House. We use censure for those in the House, Steve King is a sitting member.”
