U.S. House Censures New York Congressman Jamaal Bowman for Pulling Capitol Fire Alarm

The Republican-led House has now censured three Democratic representatives this year, turning a once-rare form of sanction into a familiar partisan tool

New York Rep. Jamaal Bowman was censured by the U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday for falsely setting off a fire alarm at the U.S. Capitol during the final hours of government shutdown negotiations in September.

Bowman, a second-term congressman, is now the third Democratic House member to be censured since Republicans took control of the chamber in January, turning a once-rare form of sanction into a familiar partisan tool.

A censure — essentially a formal rebuke of a representative's actions — carries no punishment beyond public shaming, but risks influencing the court of public opinion come reelection time.

Related: New York Congressman Charged with Pulling Capitol Fire Alarm Ahead of House Vote Last Month

On Sept. 30, shortly before the House was to vote on an emergency funding bill to prevent a government shutdown, Bowman pulled a fire alarm in the Capitol, triggering an evacuation.

Critics were quick to suggest that he pulled the alarm intentionally to delay the vote, though Bowman insisted it was a mistake.

"Today, as I was rushing to make a vote, I came to a door that is usually open for votes but today would not open," Bowman said in a statement after the incident. "I am embarrassed to admit that I activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door. I regret this and sincerely apologize for any confusion this caused."

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Bowman addressed rumors about the fire alarm directly, saying, "I want to be very clear, this was not me, in any way, trying to delay any vote. It was the exact opposite -- I was trying urgently to get to a vote, which I ultimately did and joined my colleagues in a bipartisan effort to keep our government open."

Bowman was charged with a misdemeanor by the Washington, D.C. attorney general, and agreed to pay a $1,000 fine, issue a formal apology to U.S. Capitol Police, and be placed on three months of probation in exchange for the charge to be dropped.

A resolution to censure Bowman was passed in the House on Thursday in a 214-191 vote that fell mostly along party lines. Bowman released a statement shortly after in which he decried House Republicans as "unserious and unproductive," saying, "my colleagues have made it explicitly clear that they would rather relitigate already settled matters than do what we were sent here to do and legislate."

Related: Mike Johnson Elected as the New House Speaker, Putting an End to Weeks of Gridlock

Bowman's censure comes exactly one month after Michigan Rep. Rashida Tlaib, the only Palestinian American in Congress, was censured in a 234-188 vote over controversial comments she made about the Israel-Hamas war.

The 118th Congress handed down its first censure in June, condemning California Rep. Adam Schiff for his role in leading President Donald Trump's first impeachment hearings years prior. That left-field resolution, which former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi alleged was orchestrated by Trump, was passed in a 213-209 vote along party lines.

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