Only two members of the Tennessee state House have been expelled from the chamber since the Civil War. On Thursday, Republicans plan to expel three Democrats at once for the unpardonable sin of leading “gun reform now” chants from the podium without having been recognized to speak.
Republicans introduced formal expulsion resolutions against Reps. Gloria Johnson of Knoxville, Justin Jones of Nashville, and Justin Pearson of Memphis on Monday night, claiming they “did knowingly and intentionally bring disorder and dishonor to the House of Representatives through their individual and collective actions.” A final vote is planned for Thursday, which is expected to pass easily given the huge Republican advantage in the chamber. The initial vote passed on a party line vote of 72-23. Before the expulsion vote, the Democrats were stripped of their committee assignments and their access to the legislative office building was restricted.
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The last expulsion was the 2016 removal of Rep. Jeremy Durham, a Republican, for sexually inappropriate behavior involving 22 women. Before that, a lawmaker was expelled in 1980 for soliciting a bribe to kill a bill. Now, the plan is to expel three lawmakers representing 210,000 people for going up to the podium without being recognized and using a bullhorn to lead protesters in the galleries in a “gun reform now” chant following the Nashville school shooting that killed three 9-year-old children and three adults.
The sense of proportion here seems … off. But that’s Republican hysteria in the face of large protests. They’re not going to do anything to make the slaughter of children less likely, so anything that points that out is especially threatening.
"We had a child molester on the floor for years, they helped him get reelected and did nothing to expel him," Johnson said, describing behaviors that haven’t gotten members expelled from the Tennessee House. "We've had members pee in each other's chairs. We've had members illegally prescribe drugs to their cousin-mistress, and nothing happened. But talk on the floor without permission, and you'll get expelled."
Here’s the Republican view of what the trio of Democrats did that was so bad, as told by Republican House Speaker Cameron Sexton in a radio appearance. “I don’t know if you heard what happened today, but there were three Democratic lawmakers, one from Knoxville, who basically tried to take over the House floor and cause an insurrection on the House floor today," Sexton said.
“So we were in between bills, and Rep. Justin Jones, Rep. Justin Pearson, and Rep. Gloria Johnson came to the well. We had protestors that had been vocal in the balcony. We had given them warnings. They were out in front of the chamber, being very vocal, yelling and screaming, which we are used to, at one point during session, to come up out of order and try to take over the House floor. Started pulling out a megaphone and shouting at members, and incite riots or violence. You had people outside the chamber who rushed the state troopers to try and get inside the chamber. They weren’t successful. So now we have multiple violations by those three.”
Sexton subsequently walked back his false characterizations of protesters having “rushed the state troopers” in order to more fully focus his ire on Johnson, Jones, and Pearson, but he’s sticking by his comparison of chanting through a bullhorn with “insurrection” or “incit[ing] riots or violence.”
Sexton had described the events as “at least equivalent, maybe worse” than the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol. During the protests in Tennessee, no one was injured or arrested, no property was damaged, and when protesters entered the state Capitol, they did so by going through security. Many of the protesters were students calling on lawmakers to protect them in their schools by passing stronger gun laws.
Meanwhile, Tennessee Republicans recently passed a law banning drag shows (currently blocked by a federal judge). They also banned gender-affirming care for trans kids. In 2021, they legalized the carrying of firearms without a permit. The state House recently passed a bill allowing officials to refuse to perform marriages based on their religious beliefs.
All that and they’re ready to throw three Democrats out over a little chanting. But this is itself part of a troubling trend. Tennessee Republicans recently cut the size of the Nashville city council after the city said it didn’t want to host the 2024 Republican National Convention. It sure looks like Tennessee Republicans now think it’s acceptable to strip Democrats of power whenever they challenge Republicans too strongly. Once Republicans lower the bar enough to convince themselves it’s reasonable to expel people for chanting out of order, or to swoop in and redo a city’s government for rebuffing a Republican event, what other excuses do you think they’re going to suddenly start finding to strip power from more and more Democrats?
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