The United States House of Representatives voted on Wednesday (17) to approve a punishment against Republican Representative Paul Gosar and remove him from two positions he occupies on House committees.
It was the first time an American congressman had been censored in over 10 years.
The House Democrat-led action represents a major rebuke for the Arizona Republican, who posted an animated video that showed him killing Democratic Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joe Biden.
The final vote was 223 to 207. Republicans Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and Liz Cheney of Wyoming voted with all Democrats in favor of the censorship resolution. Republican Rep. David Joyce of Ohio voted in attendance, meaning he didn’t take either side.
Gosar withdrew the video after being criticized, but he did not apologize. About an hour after being censored, Gosar retweeted a commentary that praised him and contained the video’s content.
House Democrats have made it clear that they believe Gosar must face significant consequences for his actions, while many Republicans have argued that Democrats are creating a dangerous precedent that could be used against them in the future.
The episode underscores and threatens to exacerbate growing tensions and deep distrust between Democrats and Republicans in Congress.
A censorship resolution is the most severe form of punishment in the House, and removing a member of the committee’s powers deprives them of a powerful platform to influence legislation and give voice to voters’ priorities.
The resolution passed by the House will remove Gosar from the House Oversight and Reform Committee, in which Ocasio-Cortez also serves, and from the Natural Resources Committee.
“We can’t have a member joking about murdering each other or threatening the president of the United States,” House Chair Nancy Pelosi said in a speech to the floor.
“Disguising death threats with a video doesn’t make it any less real,” she said. “It’s a sad day for the Chamber of Deputies, but a necessary day.”
Republican Party leader Kevin McCarthy accused the Democrats of hypocrisy, arguing that they did not respond to members of their own party in the same way.
McCarthy went on to suggest that Republicans will use the pattern that has been set to rebuke the Democrats if they regain a majority.
“Under the Pelosi precedent, all the members I mentioned earlier will need majority approval to maintain these positions in the future.”
In plenary comments before the vote, Gosar was defiant.
“For this cartoon, some in the current Congress suggest that I should be punished. I said decisively that there is no other threat in the cartoon than the threat immigration poses to our country. And no threat was intended by my team or me,” he said.
“I voluntarily deleted the animation not because it was a threat, but because some thought it was. Out of compassion for those who were offended, I self-censored,” said Gosar.
*This article has been translated. Read the original in English
Reference: CNN Brasil
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