House Democrats voiced outrage Wednesday as Democratic Rep. Adam Schiff of California was censured by the House for making false claims about former President Donald Trump.
Censure is the highest level of disapproval of a member’s conduct short of expulsion.
The vote on the resolution, brought by Republican Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida, was 213-209, according to Axios.
The five GOP members of the House Ethics Committee, which under the resolution will now consider Schiff’s conduct, voted “present,” as did Republican Rep. Ken Buck of Colorado.
All House Democrats opposed censuring Schiff.
Greg Price of the State Freedom Caucus Network described the scene on Twitter: “Democrats throw a 5 minute temper tantrum in the well of the House chamber as the vote to censure Adam Schiff passes, yelling ‘shame’ at Kevin McCarthy and refusing to allow him to finish reading the resolution.”
Democrats called McCarthy a “spiteful coward” and “weak,” according to Axios. Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York called for him to be booted from his post.
During her comments to the House, former Speaker Nancy Pelosi said the vote was a “puppet show” and Trump the “puppeteer.”
“You look miserable. You look miserable,” the California Democrat told Luna.
The congresswoman called the vote to censure Schiff a choice ” between right and wrong,” according to ABC News.
“This is not a partisan act. This is not a conservative-versus-liberal vote. This is a clear vote between right and wrong, and I urge you to do the right thing,” she said.
Luna said “run[ning] away from this opportunity to hold this man accountable” would “betray the people who trusted us and sent us here [to Congress] to do the right thing.”
The resolution said Schiff “has spread false accusations that the Trump campaign colluded with Russia.”
“On March 20, 2017, Representative Schiff perpetuated false allegations from the Steele Dossier accusing numerous Trump associates of colluding with Russia into the Congressional Record,” the resolution said.
“As ranking minority member and Chairman of the Intelligence Committee, Representative Schiff behaved dishonestly and dishonorably on many other occasions, including by publicly, falsely denying that his staff communicated with a whistleblower to launch the first impeachment of President Trump,” the resolution said.