Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina is reportedly preparing to escalate internal Republican tensions with a resolution to censure Rep. Cory Mills of Florida and remove him from his committee assignments.
The measure, expected Wednesday, comes after a series of failed GOP attempts to censure Democrats — actions that in turn have shielded Mills from his own potential reprimands and stoked growing frustration within the conference.
Mace intends to designate her resolution as privileged, compelling House Republican leadership to bring it to the floor within two legislative days. A vote could therefore take place before week’s end, injecting new volatility into a caucus already strained by ideological and personal divisions.
Mills has found himself embroiled in several controversies throughout the year. Most recently, a Florida judge granted a restraining order requested by an ex-girlfriend who accused him of harassment and threats to release intimate photos following their breakup. Mills has denied portions of the accusations.
Democrats have introduced three separate proposals to censure Mills in recent months. But each was framed as a retaliatory response to Republican efforts to censure Democratic lawmakers — efforts that failed.
Because the GOP censures did not advance, Democrats chose not to force floor votes on reprimanding Mills. That dynamic, long simmering, spilled into open anger Tuesday night after the House rejected a resolution to censure Del. Stacey Plaskett of the Virgin Islands over her text communications with Jeffrey Epstein during a 2019 congressional hearing.
The Plaskett measure failed 209–214–3, with three Republicans joining all Democrats in opposition and three others voting “present.” The outcome triggered visible frustration on the floor. Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado shouted at Republican colleagues and confronted Mills directly. Rep. Anna Paulina Luna of Florida went further, suggesting a bipartisan arrangement had been crafted to protect Mills and sink the resolution.
“I was wondering if the Speaker of the House of Representatives can explain why leadership on both sides, both Democrat and Republican, are cutting back-end deals to cover up public corruption in the House of Representatives for both Republican and Democrat members of Congress,” Luna asked in a parliamentary inquiry that was ruled out of order.
Mills’s office denied any deal existed to block the Plaskett censure and said it anticipated procedural action on the censure targeting Mills. Another previous attempt to censure Mills stalled after the House in September rejected a Mace-led measure to censure Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota over comments she reposted related to the killing of conservative activist Charlie Kirk.
Mills had been the decisive vote against the Omar censure — a vote that would have triggered a retaliatory censure against him had it passed. Mills disputed the notion that he acted to protect himself.
Following that episode, Mace publicly criticized Mills, spotlighting a series of controversies surrounding him, including allegations of stolen valor, which he has rejected. Another proposed censure referenced reporting in The Daytona Beach News-Journal questioning Mills’s receipt of a Bronze Star, citing service members who contested his role in a rescue operation. A separate retaliatory censure effort fizzled after Republicans voted to table a measure targeting Rep. LaMonica McIver of New Jersey, who faces charges stemming from a confrontation at an immigrant detention facility.
Mills did not immediately comment on Mace’s expected resolution, which now threatens to sharpen divisions inside a party already struggling to maintain unity amid overlapping ideological battles and personal disputes.
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