BURSTSpeaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) said House Republicans are weighing what kind of actions to take against three House Democrats who got in a scuffle with law enforcement at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) facility.
Johnson called the Friday incident “a new low for congressional Democrats.”
“We're having conversations — we had them this morning in the House Republican conference meeting this morning — about appropriate action that we need to take here to address that inappropriate behavior, the wildly inappropriate behavior,” Johnson said.
New Jersey Democratic Reps. Bonnie Watson Coleman, Robert Menendez and LaMonica McIver visited the Delaney Hall detention center Friday. A scuffle with law enforcement ensued, resulting in Newark, N.J., Mayor Ras Baraka (D) being arrested for trespassing.
Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem on Fox News on Tuesday called for the three lawmakers to be removed from committees or to be censured, amounting to a formal reprimand that typically carries no tangible consequences. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-Ga.) introduced a resolution on Tuesday to strip the members of their committee assignments. It takes a two-thirds majority of the House to expel members, which would require support from Democrats.
“We're looking at what is appropriate,” Johnson said. “I think it's pretty clear that the law was violated.”
Federal law allows members of congress special access to visit ICE facilities. But DHS spokesperson Tricia McLaughlin has said the lawmakers “stormed the gate” and suggested they could face arrests as a result of the incident.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) on Tuesday, though, warned that such a move would amount to executive overreach.
“It’s a red line,” Jeffries said. “They know better than to go down that road.”
Johnson compared the incident to the Wisconsin judge who was indicted by a federal grand jury this week over allegedly helping a migrant evade immigration officers.
“What these House Democrats did is, in — in that — the same lane, the same vein, of what the judge is being indicted for,” Johnson said. “So, I think there's some legal ramifications to play out here.”
Despite Republicans wanting to take action, Johnson said they don’t want to get in the way of potential actions from the Trump administration.
“We don’t want to get in the way of the Department of Justice and what they may be doing in terms of the legality of what’s happening,” Johnson added to reporters after the press conference.