Some Republicans have voiced doubts about the wisdom of the GOP supermajority in Tennessee's House of Representatives in expelling two of three legislators for taking part in a gun control demonstration at the statehouse on March 30.
Last Thursday, the Republican-ruled House voted to expel Democrat state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson. A third Democrat legislator, Gloria Johnson, survived expulsion by one vote. Both Jones of Nashville, 27, and Pearson of Memphis, 28, are Black. Four-termer Johnson, 60 — a retired teacher from Knox County — is white.
Almost overnight, the Tennessee Three became cause célèbre for Democrats. Vice President Kamala Harris jetted to Nashville on Friday to meet with them, and President Biden telephoned them by conference call and invited them to the White House.
Former President Barack Obama meanwhile sent out a strongly worded tweet Friday night, declaring that "what happened in Tennessee is the latest example of a broader erosion of civility and democratic norms. Silencing those who disagree with us is a sign of weakness, not strength, and it won't lead to progress."
Under Volunteer State law, if a vacancy in the legislature occurs more than 12 months before the next election, local government within the ousted lawmakers' districts will fill the vacancy. Both Jones and Pearson are expected to be returned to office soon.
Some Republicans are beginning to voice their reservations about the expulsion.
Tennessee's Republican National Committeeman Oscar Brock seemed to speak for many of them when he told Newsmax, "I believe that the expulsion of two members was not proportional to their original actions. Speaker [Cameron] Sexton had already removed their after-hours access to legislative facilities and removed their committee assignments. A censure, in my opinion, would have been appropriate and sufficient."
Brock, son of the late Tennessee senator and Republican National Chair Bill Brock, added his worry "that people will perceive that Republicans, when given a supermajority, will abuse that privilege. Moreover, we may have energized gun control advocates and given them powerful allies. We may have put swing legislative districts at risk in the next cycle."
By allowing this to become a national issue, Brock warned, "the Tennessee State House Republicans have earned the national party negative publicity, and have damaged the Republican brand. Whether that has long-term effects is yet to be determined."
Only three U.S. Representatives since the Civil War have been expelled. In state legislatures throughout the country, expulsion has been rarely employed against lawmakers and almost always as a last resort.
In 2001, Republican David Jaye became the first and only Michigan state senator to be expelled by his colleagues. This followed three arrests for drunken driving, revelations that he kept pornography on his office computer, and a bar fight with his then-girlfriend, who hit him with a stool.
Jaye was expelled by a near-unanimous vote.
Republican John Engler, who was governor at the time of the Jaye affair, told Newsmax he felt expulsion "is a legislative body action equivalent to the death penalty. It is warranted only in the most extreme circumstances. The Michigan Constitution makes it clear that each House is the sole judge of its members, but my view was that power had to be exercised very prudently.
The voters who chose these individuals and legislative bodies should tread carefully when deciding to expel them."
Engler sharply contrasted the actions of the Michigan senate expelling Jaye with the ongoing saga of the "Tennessee Three."
"Our standard was based on breach of public trust, unethical behavior, serious misconduct — certainly much more than a fight with the Speaker regardless of what the issues might be," he told Newsmax.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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