Censure is a formal, public, group condemnation of an individual, often a group member, whose actions run counter to the group's acceptable standards for individual behavior.[1] In the United States, governmental censure is done when a body's members wish to publicly reprimand the president of the United States, a member of Congress, a judge or a cabinet member. It is a formal statement of disapproval.[2] It relies on the target's sense of shame or their constituents' subsequent disapproval, without which it has little practical effect when done on members of Congress and no practical effect when done on the president.[3][4][5]
TheUnited States Constitution specifically grantsimpeachment and conviction powers, respectively, to the House of Representatives and Senate. It also grants both congressional bodies the power to expel their own members, though it does not mention censure. Each body adopts rules allowing censure,[6][7] which is "stronger than a simple rebuke, but not as strong as expulsion." In general, each house of Congress is responsible for invoking censure against its own members; censure against other government officials is not common. Because censure is not specifically mentioned as the accepted form of reprimand, many censure actions against members of Congress may be listed officially as rebuke, condemnation, or denouncement.[1]
Like a reprimand, a censure does not remove a member from their office so they retain their title, stature, and power to vote. There are also no legal consequences that come with a reprimand or censure. The main difference is that a reprimand is "considered a slap on the wrist and can be given in private and even in a letter," while a censure is "a form of public shaming in which the politician must stand before their peers to listen to the censure resolution."[8]
There have been four cases in U.S. history where theHouse of Representatives or theSenate adopted a resolution that, in its original form, would censure the president.[9]
The 1834 censure of PresidentAndrew Jackson "remains the clearest case of presidential censure by resolution."[10] In 1834, while underWhig control, the Senate censured Jackson, a member of theDemocratic Party, for withholding documents relating to his actions in defunding theBank of the United States.[11] During the waning months of Jackson's term, his Democratic allies succeeded inexpunging the censure.[12]
In 1860, the House of Representatives adopted a resolution admonishing both PresidentJames Buchanan and Secretary of the NavyIsaac Toucey for allegedly awarding contracts on the basis of "party relations." The House may have intended this resolution as a lesser reprimand than a formal censure.[13]
In two other cases, the Senate adopted a resolution that was originally introduced to censure the president, but that, in its final form, did not overtly censure the president.[10]
In 1864, during theAmerican Civil War, SenatorGarrett Davis introduced a resolution to censure PresidentAbraham Lincoln for allowing two individuals to resume their service as generals after winning election to Congress. The final resolution adopted by the Senate required generals to be "re-appointed in the manner provided by the Constitution," but did not overtly censure Lincoln.
In 1912, SenatorJoseph Weldon Bailey introduced a resolution censuring PresidentWilliam Howard Taft for allegedly interfering with a disputed Senate election. The final Senate resolution did not specifically refer to Taft, but stated that presidential interference in a disputed Senate race would warrant censure.[13]
Several other presidents have been subject to censure attempts in which no formal resolution was adopted by either the House or the Senate.[14] In 1800,RepresentativeEdward Livingston of New York introduced a censure motion against PresidentJohn Adams.[15] In 1842, Whigs attempted to impeach PresidentJohn Tyler following a long period of hostility with the president. When that action could not get through Congress, a select Senate committee dominated by Whigs censured Tyler instead.[16] In 1848, CongressmanGeorge Ashmun led an effort to censure PresidentJames K. Polk, on the grounds that theMexican–American War had been "unnecessarily and unconstitutionally begun by the President." The House of Representatives voted to add Ashmun's censure as an amendment to a resolution under consideration by the House, but the resolution itself was never adopted by the House. In 1871, SenatorCharles Sumner introduced an unsuccessful resolution to censure PresidentUlysses S. Grant for deploying ships to theDominican Republic without the approval of Congress. In 1952, CongressmanBurr Powell Harrison introduced a resolution censuring PresidentHarry S. Truman for seizing control of steel mills during the1952 steel strike. The resolution ultimately did not receive a vote.[17]
PresidentRichard M. Nixon was the subject of several censure resolutions introduced in the House of Representatives; most of the resolutions were related to theWatergate scandal. In 1972, a resolution censuring Nixon for his handling of theVietnam War was introduced. A separate series of censure resolutions were introduced after the "Saturday Night Massacre" in October 1973. Another series of resolutions were introduced in July 1974. None of the resolutions were adopted, but Nixon resigned from office in August 1974.[18]
In 1998, resolutions to censure PresidentBill Clinton for his role in theClinton–Lewinsky scandal were introduced and failed.[19][20][21][22] The activist groupMoveOn.orgoriginated in 1998, after the group's founders began a petition urging the Republican-controlled Congress to "censure President Clinton and move on"—i.e., to dropimpeachment proceedings, pass a censure of Clinton, and focus on other matters.[23][24] From 2005 to 2007, members of Congress introduced several resolutions to censure PresidentGeorge W. Bush and other members of the Bush administration. Most of the resolutions focused on Bush's handling of theIraq War, but one resolution concerned the administration's "unlawful authorization of wiretaps of Americans" and two others alleged that Bush and Attorney GeneralAlberto Gonzales had violated "statutes, treaties, and the Constitution." From 2013 to 2016, members of Congress introduced several resolutions to censure PresidentBarack Obama. These resolutions charged that Obama had usurped the "legislative power of Congress” or had acted unlawfully. None of the resolutions to censure Bush or Obama were adopted.[25]
On August 18, 2017, a resolution was introduced in the House to censure PresidentDonald Trump for his comments "that 'both sides' were to blame for the violence in" theUnite the Right rally.[26][27] On January 18, 2018, another motion to censure Trump was introduced in theHouse of Representatives by Rep.Cedric Richmond (D), who at the time was the Chairman of theCongressional Black Caucus, for Trump's remark, alleged by people in the room, stating "Why do we want all these people from 'shithole countries' coming here?" According to people in the room at the time, Trump was referring to people fromHaiti andAfrican nations coming to theUnited States. The censure motion failed to reach any legislative action.[28] This comment was alleged to have been made on January 11, 2018, in an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers regarding immigration.[29]
The U.S. Senate has developed procedures for taking disciplinary action against senators through such measures as formal censure or actual expulsion from the Senate. The Senate has two basic forms of punishment available to it: expulsion, which requires a two-thirds vote; or censure, which requires a majority vote.[30] Censure is a formal statement of disapproval. While censure (sometimes referred to as condemnation or denouncement) is less severe than expulsion in that it does not remove a senator from office, it is nevertheless a formal statement of disapproval that can have a powerful psychological effect on a member and on that member's relationships in the Senate.[31]
In the history of the Senate, 10 U.S. Senators have been censured,[32] the most famous beingJoseph McCarthy.[33]Their transgressions have ranged from breach of confidentiality to fighting in the Senate chamber and more generally for "conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute".[30]
The House of Representatives is authorized to censure its own members by the scope of United States Constitution (Article I, Section 5, clause 2).[34] In the House of Representatives, censure is essentially a form ofpublic humiliation carried out on the House floor.[35] As theSpeaker of the House reads out a resolution rebuking a member for a specified misconduct, that member must stand in the House well and listen to it.[36][37] This process has been described as amorality play in miniature.[38]
Most cases arose during the 19th century.[35][36] Censure has been successful 26 times. In the modern history of theUnited States House Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (since 1966), censure has been successful nine times.[35][39]
InHouston Community College System v. Wilson (2022) theSupreme Court of the United States held that theFirst Amendment to the United States Constitution does not prevent local government bodies from censuring their own members.[41]
To date,Andrew Jackson is the only sittingPresident of the United States to be successfully censured, although his censure was subsequently expunged from official records.[42] Between 2017 and 2020, several Members of Congress introduced motions to censure PresidentDonald Trump for various controversies, including as a possible substitute forimpeachment during theTrump-Ukraine scandal, but none were successful.[43][44][45]
On December 2, 1954,Republican SenatorJoseph McCarthy fromWisconsin was censured by the United States Senate for failing to cooperate with the subcommittee that was investigating him, and for insulting the committee that was recommending his censure.
On June 10, 1980,Democratic RepresentativeCharles H. Wilson fromCalifornia was censured by the House of Representatives for "financial misconduct", as a result of the "Koreagate" scandal of 1976. "Koreagate" was an American political scandal involving South Koreans seeking influence with members of Congress. An immediate goal seems to have been reversing PresidentRichard Nixon's decision to withdraw troops fromSouth Korea. It involved the KCIA (now theNational Intelligence Service) funneling bribes and favors through Korean businessmanTongsun Park in an attempt to gain favor and influence. Some 115 members of Congress were implicated.
On July 20, 1983, RepresentativesDan Crane, aRepublican fromIllinois, andGerry Studds, aDemocrat fromMassachusetts, were censured by the House of Representatives for their involvement in the1983 Congressional page sex scandal.[46]
On July 12, 1999, the U.S. House of Representatives censured (in a 355-to-0 vote) ascientific publication titled "A Meta-analytic Examination of Assumed Properties of Child Sexual Abuse Using College Samples", byBruce Rind, Philip Tromovich, and Robert Bauserman; (seeRind et al. controversy) which was published in theAmerican Psychological Association's "Psychological Bulletin (July 1998).[47]
On July 31, 2007, retired Army GeneralPhilip Kensinger was censured by theUnited States Army for misleading investigators of thePat Tillman death in 2004.[48]
On July 6, 2009,South Carolina Republican GovernorMark Sanford was censured by theSouth Carolina Republican Party executive committee for traveling overseas on taxpayer funds to visit his mistress.[49]
On October 13, 2009, the mayor ofSheboygan, Wisconsin,Bob Ryan, was censured due to aYouTube video that showed him making sexually vulgar comments about his sister-in-law taken at a bar on a cell phone.[50] The censure was voted 15-0 by theSheboygan Common Council. His powers were also quickly reduced by the Common Council, and he was ultimately removed from office two and a half years later in arecall election for continued improprieties in office.
In November 2009, members of the Charleston County Republican Party censured Republican SenatorLindsey Graham of South Carolina in response to his voting to bail out banks and other Wall Street firms, and for his views onimmigration reform andcap-and-trade climate change legislation.[51]
On December 2, 2010, Democratic Rep.Charlie Rangel from theState of New York was censured after an ethics panel found he violated House rules, specifically failing to pay taxes on a villa in theDominican Republic, improperly soliciting charitable donations, and running a campaign office out of arent-stabilized apartment meant for residential use.
On January 4, 2010, members of the Lexington County Republican Party censured SenatorLindsey Graham of South Carolina for his support of government intervention in the private financial sector and for “debasing” longstanding Republican beliefs in economic competition.[51]
On January 22, 2013, theArizona Republican Party censured longtime Sen.John McCain for his record of occasionally voting with Democrats on some issues.[52]
On February 6, 2021, theWyoming Republican Party censured Rep.Liz Cheney, the House Republican Conference Chair and third highest-ranking member of the House Republican leadership, for her vote to impeach former PresidentDonald Trump during hissecond impeachment.[53]
On February 13, 2021, theLouisiana Republican Party censured SenatorBill Cassidy, the senior U.S. senator from Louisiana, for his vote to convict former PresidentDonald Trump during hissecond impeachment trial.[54]
On February 15, 2021, theNorth Carolina Republican Party's central committee voted to censure U.S. SenatorRichard Burr for his vote to convict former presidentDonald Trump during his second impeachment trial.[55]
On March 16, 2021, theAlaska Republican Party censured U.S. SenatorLisa Murkowski for her vote to convict former presidentDonald Trump during his second impeachment trial.[56]
On November 17, 2021, theDemocratic-controlledU.S. House of Representatives passed a measure to censure Republican Rep.Paul Gosar for posting ananime video of him killing fellow RepresentativeAlexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking PresidentJoe Biden.[57]
On January 22, 2022, theArizona Democratic Party censured U.S. SenatorKyrsten Sinema for blocking voting rights.[58]
On February 4, 2022, theRepublican National Committee voted to formally censure Rep.Liz Cheney and Rep.Adam Kinzinger for their participation in theUnited States House Select Committee on the January 6 Attack.[59]
On June 21, 2023, theRepublican-controlledU.S. House of Representatives passed a measure to censure Democratic Rep.Adam B. Schiff for pressing allegations that Donald Trump's 2016 presidential campaigncolluded with Russia, a week after a first attempt to censure Schiff was blocked.[60]
On November 7, 2023, in a 234–188 vote theU.S. House of Representatives censured Rep.Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) for her remarks related to theIsrael–Hamas war. This marked the second attempt to censure Tlaib, who was accused of "promoting false narratives" and "calling for the destruction of the state of Israel". Tlaib had shared a video on social media that used the phrase "from the river to the sea".[61] The censure was supported by 22 Democrats and drew attention as a symbolic move, given Tlaib's status as the onlyPalestinian American in Congress. Despite criticism from members of both parties, most Democrats opposed the censure, emphasizing freedom of speech.[62]
On December 8, 2023, theU.S. House of Representatives voted to censure Rep.Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) in a 214-191 vote for pulling a fire alarm to stall a House vote on September 26, 2023. He was seen on video attempting to open a door, and then pulling the fire alarm. He claimed he thought that the alarm would open the door. On October 30, Rep. Bowman pled guilty to a misdemeanor count and was fined $1000.[63][64]
On March 6, 2025, theU.S. House of Representatives voted to censure Rep.Alexander N. Green (D-TX) in a 224–198–2 vote, with 10 Democrats joining most Republican in voting in favor of the censure.[65] The vote was held after Green disrupted President Donald Trump's March 4, 2025 address to ajoint session of Congress by pointing his cane at the dais and shouting, "You have no mandate to cut Medicaid."[66] Green was escorted out of the House Chamber by thesergeant-at-arms after repeatedly interrupting the address.[67]
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)The House of Representatives - in the same manner as the United States Senate - is expressly authorized within the United States Constitution (Article I, Section 5, clause 2) to discipline or "punish" its own Members ... to protect the institutional integrity of the House of Representatives, its proceedings, and its reputation.