The House is preparing to vote on a Republican-backed resolution to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-N.J.) and strip her of her seat on the House Homeland Security Committee. McIver was indicted last month and has pleaded not guilty to three counts of interfering with law enforcement stemming from a May altercation with ICE officers.
According to Justice Department prosecutors, McIver allegedly elbowed and grabbed an ICE agent outside the Delaney Hall detention facility in Newark. McIver has denied the charges, claiming she was the victim of an assault during a chaotic confrontation that also led to the arrest of Newark Mayor Ras Baraka.
Rep. Clay Higgins (R-La.) on Wednesday introduced a privileged motion to force a vote on his resolution to censure McIver. Under House rules, this type of motion requires Republican leadership to schedule a vote within a few legislative days of the House’s return in September—unless Higgins chooses to withdraw it.
The three-page measure alleges McIver’s actions “do not reflect creditably on the House” and that her continued service on the Homeland Security Committee “would represent a significant conflict of interest.” The measure does not target McIver’s membership on the Small Business Committee, reported Axios.
In an interview with Axios at the Capitol, Rep. Higgins said he waited until just before the House’s five-week August recess to see whether Democrats would remove McIver from the committee on their own. While House Republican rules require indicted members to relinquish all committee assignments, Democratic rules only mandate stepping down from committee leadership roles.
Nevertheless, Higgins said, McIver “should not be participating on the committee that has oversight and voting authority over the branch of federal government that she’s been indicted for committing crimes against.”
