REPRIMAND

Rep. Jamaal Bowman to Face Censure Vote for Pulling Fire Alarm

The New York Democrat could face the vote as early as Thursday.

Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) is due to face a censure vote for pulling a fire alarm in a House office building back in September, a move he says shows Republicans are “unserious.” A Republican-led censure resolution survived a vote on Wednesday, with 216 Republicans voting in favor of a formal reprimand and 201 Democrats voting against it, The New York Times reports. The vote could take place as early as Thursday. Bowman has maintained that he accidentally pulled the fire alarm on Sept. 30 and prompted an evacuation, at a time when Democrats were in need of more time to review a GOP stopgap spending bill introduced just prior to a vote. “I immediately took responsibility and accountability for my actions and pled guilty. Immediately,” Bowman said Wednesday, accusing Republicans of “trying to rehash an already litigated matter.” Bowman agreed to pay the fine for a false fire alarm charge in October. But Republicans skewered him for what they described as a “theatrical attempt to cause panic” and “disrupt” the work of Congress.