House to vote on censuring Dem rep charged in ICE facility incident
A House Republican put forward a resolution calling for a vote to censure the New Jersey Democrat who was federally indicted for allegedly obstructing Homeland Security agents at an immigration facility in May.
The measure from Clay Higgins of Louisiana states that Rep. LaMonica McIver’s "continued service on the Committee on Homeland Security, which is charged with oversight of Federal immigration enforcement and other national security matters, would represent a significant conflict of interest" and that she should be removed from that committee as well.
"Clay Higgins is a bigot who wants to be back in the news," McIver told Axios in a statement provided by a spokesperson.
"This resolution aims to kick me off the committee that presides over the Department of Homeland Security and shame me for doing the oversight work that is my job," she reportedly added. "Good luck, Clay."
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The resolution mentions how McIver was hit with a "three-count indictment by a Federal grand jury for assaulting, resisting, impeding, and interfering with Federal officers" during the May 9 incident at the Delaney Hall Federal Immigration Facility in Newark, N.J.
It states that "clause 1 of rule XXIII of the Rules of the House of Representatives provides, ‘'A Member, Delegate, Resident Commissioner, officer, or employee of the House shall behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House'" and that "such actions of a Member of the House of Representatives do not reflect creditably on the House."
During the incident, McIver and two other members of Congress were conducting a congressional oversight visit that coincided with an immigration protest, according to a Justice Department press release.
After Newark Mayor Ras Baraka entered the facility’s secured area, federal agents warned him to leave.
However, when officers tried to arrest Baraka, McIver allegedly blocked them, putting her arms around the mayor, and "slammed her forearm" into one officer while grabbing another.
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After pleading not guilty during a court appearance last month, McIver said "At the end of the day this is all about political intimidation.
"The Trump administration and his colleagues or cronies, or whatever you want to call them, have weaponized the federal government. They weaponized the Department of Justice and anybody who stands up to them, anyone who criticizes them, anyone who fights back against them finds themselves in these hairs that we are in today," she added.
McIver is now headed for trial on Nov. 10.
Higgins told Axios that he waited until just before the House of Representatives’ 5-week recess to see if Democrats would remove McIver from her committee assignment.
House Republicans’ rules require indicted members to give up all their committee assignments, while Democrats only require those individuals to surrender committee leadership positions, according to Axios.
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," Higgins told the outlet.
Fox News' Jasmine Baehr and Michael Dorgan contributed to this report.