On Wednesday, the House voted 223 to 207, on a near-party-line vote, to censure Rep. Paul A. Gosar (R-Ariz). Gosar had posted an anime video portraying him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) and attacking President Biden. He later took down the video but did not apologize. After the House rebuked him, he retweeted the video.
Gosar is just the 24th member ever to be censured by the House. A censure registers formal disapproval of a legislator’s actions. The House also stripped Gosar of his committee assignments.
These dramatic events reveal a lot about both party and gender politics in the House. They also point to actions Republicans might take should they take control of the chamber in the 2022 midterm elections.
Parties compete on ethics as well as policy
Democrats’ tenuous control of the House majority rests on only four seats, while the Senate is split 50-50. This makes Republicans bullish about their chances to take back control of Congress in 2022. In her book “Insecure Majorities,” political scientist Frances E. Lee shows that to win, members cling more tightly to their partisan teams and look for additional ways to differentiate themselves from the other party.
That goes beyond policy positions. For instance, they look for opportunities to show that they are the party of good government, while the opposition is corrupt and unfit to rule. Democrats are using Gosar’s video to remind voters that combative rhetoric from President Donald Trump and groups on the right prompted violence on Jan. 6, when a pro-Trump mob stormed the U.S. Capitol to prevent Congress from certifying Biden’s election.
During debate on the censure resolution, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) and other Republicans pointed to their belief that Democrats did not take equivalently severe actions against their own members’ ethical lapses, including Maxine Waters’s (D-Calif.) comments at a racial justice demonstration that they argue promoted violence; Ilhan Omar’s (D-Minn.) remarks that were widely viewed as antisemitic; and House Intelligence Committee member Eric Swalwell’s (D-Calif.) alleged connections to a Chinese spy.
As the majority party, Democrats used their control over the floor agenda to minimize these controversies. As with Republican majorities, Democrats’ top priority is protecting the party’s reputation.
Parties weaponize procedure in battling for majority control
In his remarks, McCarthy accused Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) of “burning down the House on her way out the door.” McCarthy is incensed about Democratic moves to further limit the minority party’s power. Two episodes could have lasting consequences, if and when Republicans win back control.
First, this wasn’t the first time that Democrats have taken controversial members off committees. Pelosi blocked McCarthy’s appointment of two vocal Trump loyalists to the Jan. 6 commission. Democrats also ejected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from her committees because she espoused extremist remarks and promoted violent conspiracy theories. In both cases, Democrats acted after GOP leaders and their party conference refused to discipline the members. McCarthy has threatened payback.
Second, earlier this year, Democrats narrowed the reach of the rule known as the motion to recommit. This procedure enables the minority to force a majority to take uncomfortable votes. Democrats curtailed use of the rule after Republicans won a handful of these motions, including adding a clause in a gun-control bill requiring sellers to notify Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) if an undocumented immigrant tried to buy a firearm.
A Republican majority will face intraparty fights
Republicans overwhelmingly rejected the resolution against Gosar. The only exceptions were Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.), who sided with Democrats, and David Joyce (R-Ohio), who voted present.
But rifts do simmer within the GOP conference. Moderates and members in swing districts will want to show their districts that they can pass legislation, while conservatives aligned with Trump will want to play hardball and reject any compromises with Democrats. These factions will clash if Republicans win the majority.
In 2015, Republican House Speaker John A. Boehner (Ohio) resigned because he found it impossible to appease his party’s tea party wing.
Today’s Trump-backed conservatives are even more aggressive. After 13 Republicans voted for Biden’s infrastructure package, Freedom Caucus members demanded they be punished and introduced a resolution to remove John Katko (R-N.Y.) from the top Republican spot on the Homeland Security Committee. The 13 have even received death threats. To keep conservative legislators on his side, McCarthy has been careful to assuage Trump and his base. Managing party factions will get more difficult when a GOP majority must compromise with Biden and vote to pass bills that keep the government running.
Party politics of women’s rights
Democrats also rebuked Gosar for promoting violence against a legislator who is a woman of color. Conservative media frequently target Ocasio-Cortez and other women in the “Squad.”
The Democratic resolution censuring Gosar declares, “Violence against women in politics is a global phenomenon meant to silence women and discourage them from seeking positions of authority and participating in public life, with women of color disproportionately impacted.” In her remarks, Pelosi quoted this part of the resolution, proclaiming, “This is about workplace harassment and violence against women.”
During the debate, numerous Democratic women spoke of their fears of violence and personal experiences as targets of violence. Most of the GOP speakers were White men who avoided discussing violence against women.
This dynamic reflects long-standing differences in the two parties’ base coalitions. Compared with Republicans, Democrats rely on voters who are more urban, female, college-educated and racially and ethnically diverse. Feminist organizations and civil rights groups are pivotal activists in this coalition and have elevated women’s rights issues, such as sexual harassment and violence against women.
Republican women are becoming key party messengers. Here’s how it happened.
In the 2020 elections, Republicans successfully recruited and elected more women and minority candidates than in the past, but Republicans in Congress remain majority White and male. For Democrats, Gosar’s actions are evidence that the party is hostile to women’s concerns. In response, Republicans deploy their increasingly conservative female members to rebut Democratic attacks.
With the parties divided on issues from abortion to family leave and child-care plans, expect more partisan fighting over the politics of women’s rights.
Correction: An earlier version of this post said that House Republicans amended a gun-control bill to remove a clause. In fact, they added a clause. We regret the error.
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Michele L. Swers (@MicheleSwers) is a professor of American government at Georgetown University and author of “Women in the Club: Gender and Policy Making in the Senate” (University of Chicago Press, 2013).