What does it mean to be censured in Congress?

In a rare move made by the U.S. House of Representatives on Wednesday, Republican Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona was formally censured by the House in a near straight partisan split. This was done after the representative had posted a video to his social media portraying him m-rdering fellow representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez. 

So what exactly is a censuring? As defined by the U.S. Senate: "It is a formal statement of disapproval...". While it is not outlined by the Constitution it is a power featured in both chambers of Congress and censure can come from either or both. For Rep. Gosar, his censure removed him from the committees he was serving on, and while it is considered a severe rebuke, it does not remove a congressmember from Congress, therefore they continue having the job, they just have this stain on their legacy. 

While social media censuring, as mentioned many times on this blog, are not considered first amendment protections, formal House censuring is a measure that Congress can take in publicly condemning members via a branch of the government. It is a rarely used but rather useful tool for checking the behavior and conduct of members to remind them they have certain privileges but are not above reproach.

House censures Rep. Gosar for violent video in rare rebuke

Comments

  1. Ambria BurtonNovember 20, 2021 at 3:40 PM

    Thanks for using this post to explain what censuring means. I do not believe that I have ever heard of this concept in politics before and now that I understand, it makes sense why Gosar was censured in the first place. I think the drastic measures that he took with that video does indeed deserve some punishment because that is completely inappropriate behavior for a member of Congress.

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