These lawmakers bucked their party on advancing the Tlaib censure resolution

Six Republicans and one Democrat on Tuesday voted differently than most in their respective parties on a motion to table a resolution censuring Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for comments she made criticizing Israel. 

The House defeated a Democratic-led motion to kill the resolution in a 208-213-1 vote. The six Republicans joined with most Democrats in voting to table the resolution, while one Democrat sided with Republicans to advance it. 

The censure resolution, sponsored by Rep. Rich McCormick (R-Ga.), is expected to face a final vote Wednesday. It will require majority support in the chamber.

The resolution accuses Tlaib of “promoting false narratives regarding the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and for calling for the destruction of the state of Israel.” 

The six Republicans who bucked their party and voted to kill the measure were: Reps. Ken Buck (R-Colo.), John Duarte (R-Calif.), Mike Garcia (R-Calif.), Thomas Massie (R-Ky.), Tom McClintock (R-Calif.) and Ryan Zinke (R-Mont.).

McClintock wrote in a post on X, formerly Twitter, that censure should only be used for serious purposes, not to punish speech. 

“Censure is to punish corrupt deeds or egregious breaches of decorum. It should never be used to stifle political speech, no matter how offensive and outrageous. Voters alone are entitled to hold members accountable for their opinions, words and votes,” McClintock wrote on X. 

The only Democrat to side with Republicans was Rep. Bradley Schneider (D-Ill.), who circulated a statement Tuesday condemning Tlaib’s recent use of the phrase “from the river to the sea.”

“We reject the use of the phrase “from the river to the sea”— a phrase used by many, including Hamas, as a rallying cry for the destruction of the State of Israel and genocide of the Jewish people. We all feel deep anguish for the human suffering caused by the war in Gaza,” the statement read.

This latest resolution comes after 23 Republicans sided with Democrats last week to kill a censure resolution of Tlaib sponsored by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who accused Tlaib of “inciting an insurrection” for her participation in an anti-war protest. Some Republicans and Democrats expressed concerns with the language in the resolution, which Greene revised over the weekend. 

Buck, Duarte, Massie and McClintock were among the Republicans who voted to table that measure.

Greene’s updated resolution to censure Tlaib is expected to face a separate procedural vote later on Tuesday. 

Both of the latest censure resolutions targeting Tlaib come after she came under fire for posting a video on X that said “supported the genocide of the Palestinian people,” and included clips of protestors chanting “from the river to the sea,” which the Anti-Defamation League labels as antisemitic. Both Democrats and Republicans criticized her for the remarks. 

She has defended herself amid the criticism and accused her colleagues of focusing their energy on her instead of working to save lives in Gaza. 

“It’s a shame my colleagues are more focused on silencing me than they are on saving lives, as the death toll in Gaza surpasses 10,000. Many of them have shown me that Palestinian lives simply do not matter to them, but I still do not police their rhetoric or actions,” Tlaib wrote in a Tuesday statement.