Mike Turner

Sept. 3 (UPI) — Five Republicans in the House joined Democrats Wednesday to block an effort to censure Rep. LaMonica McIver, D-N.J., over a confrontation with immigration officers in her district.

Rep. Clay Higgins, R-La., sponsored a resolution that would have condemned McIver’s actions in May and removed her from her position on the House Homeland Security Committee. The House voted 215-207 to table the measure, with Republican Reps. Don Bacon and Mike Flood of Nebraska, Dave Joyce and Mike Turner of Ohio, and David Valadao of California voting against the censure along with all Democrats. Rep. Andrew Garbarino, R-N.Y., and Rep. Nathaniel Moran, R-Texas, voted present.

Turner’s representative said he mistakenly voted against the resolution, which would not have changed the outcome of the vote, Politico reported.

McIver faces three federal charges for allegedly assaulting and interfering with immigration officers outside the Delaney Hall Federal Immigration Facility in Newark, N.J., during a congressional visit on May 9. U.S. Attorney Alina Habra said McIver forcibly grabbed and slammed an agent with her forearm and struck a second agent.

The counts carry up to eight years in prison if she’s convicted. She pleaded not guilty to the charges during her arraignment in June.

Along with McIver at the oversight inspection were Newark Mayor Ray Baraka, and Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman and Rob Menendez of New Jersey. Authorities initially arrested Baraka but later dropped the charges against him.

Democrats have called the charges and censure politically motivated. McIver’s lawyers said she didn’t commit any crimes and was simply carrying out her duties as a member of Congress attempting to inspect the Immigrations and Customs Enforcement facility, but federal agents reacted recklessly and disproportionately.

Garbarino said he voted no on the censure because he believes the Ethics Committee should review the matter. Bacon agreed.

“I don’t support the censure of Rep. LaMonica McIver because I want the Ethics Committee to finish their report on this matter,” he said.

Higgins said McIver was to blame for him pushing the vote, according to Roll Call.

“Had she withdrawn from the Homeland Security Committee, I certainly wouldn’t have offered a resolution, even though censure [is] legitimate and called for,” he said.

June 12 (UPI) — The House of Representatives narrowly approved axing $8.3 billion in funding for the U.S. Agency for International Development and another $1.1 billion for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting on Thursday.

The House voted 214-212 to approve the rescissions package of bills and send them to the Senate, which could pass the measures with a simple majority.

The measures were passed after two House Republicans switched their votes after initially opposing their passage.

Reps. Don Bacon of Nebraska and Nick LaLota of New York opposed the rescission bills but voted for the measure with strong encouragement from House GOP leadership.

Four other GOP House members, Nicole Malliotakis of New York, Mark Amodei of Nevada, Mike Turner of Ohio and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania voted with 208 House Democrats to oppose the rescission package.

Four Democrats and two Republican House members did not vote on the rescission package.

The formerly Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency recommended the rescissions after reviewing USAID, PBS and NPR spending.

“I want to thank DOGE for their heroic and patriotic efforts,” House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told reporters afterward.

“What we’re trying to do is ensure that every dollar spent by the federal government is used efficiently and effectively,” Johnson said.

Johnson conferred with LaLota and Bacon on the House floor while the vote was still open, but passage looked doubtful until they changed their votes.

LaLota said the conversation between him and Johnson involved state and local tax cuts in New York that are part of the “one big beautiful bill” that Trump wants passed to fund the federal government for the 2026 fiscal year.

“I had some conversations with the speaker that raised my level of confidence that will put this and future issues in the right trajectory,” LaLota told reporters afterward.

Rep. Mike Lawler, R-N.Y., also joined Johnson and LaLota for the floor conversation and then voted in favor of the measure.

Bacon had announced on Monday that he wouldn’t support the rescission package “if it guts an AIDS relief program,” namely the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief, or PEPFAR, which was started by former President George W. Bush.

President Donald Trump posted to Truth Social in April that “Republicans must defund and totally disassociate themselves from NPR and PBS,” further calling the stations “radical-left monsters.”

Johnson has called the request an opportunity to cancel “wasteful spending” that would “ensure greater accountability in government going forward.”

“There is no reason for any media organization to be singled out to receive federal funds, especially those who appear to have so little regard for the truth,” Johnson previously said.

As for USAID, Johnson said DOGE “went after USAID first for their review, their audits,” because it allegedly “opposed the loudest of this accountability measure,” which “put the scrutiny targets on their own backs.”

House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., accused House Republicans of “debating legislation that targets Elmo and Big Bird and Daniel Tiger and Sesame Street” instead of legislation that could help the nation and its economy during floor debate on Thursday.

Congress has the ability to cancel funds that the federal government had previously appropriated but hasn’t spent under the rescissions process.

The president can temporarily defer or withhold such funds, but only with the approval of Congress.

Republicans currently hold a seven-seat majority in the House. In the case of the Senate, where there are 53 Republicans among its 100 seats, rescission bills only require a simple majority.