Rep. Nancy Mace (R-SC) filed a resolution on Wednesday to expel Rep. LaMonica McIver (D-NJ) from the House of Representatives after a federal assault charge was brought against the Democrat earlier this week in connection with her confrontation with law enforcement outside a Newark immigration detention center.
“On May 9th, McIver didn’t just break the law, she attacked the very people who defend it,” Mace said in a statement. “Attacking Homeland Security and ICE agents isn’t just disgraceful, it’s assault.”
“If any other American did what she did, they’d be in handcuffs,” the South Carolina Republican continued. “McIver thinks being a Member of Congress puts her above the law. It doesn’t.”
“She should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”
Acting New Jersey US Attorney Alina Habba slapped McIver with two felony counts on Monday, accusing the congresswoman of using force to interfere with federal agents during a chaotic protest earlier this month at the Delaney Hall detention center in Newark.
McIver faces up to eight years in prison if convicted of the charges.
Video footage of the scrum released by the Department of Homeland Security shows McIver throwing elbows at an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent and striking a Homeland Security Investigations officer in the arm outside the detention center.
McIver, who has represented the Garden State’s 10th Congressional District since September 2024, has denied the allegations, slamming the charges on Monday as “purely political” and blaming federal agents for the confrontation at the ICE-run detention facility.
“In the South I think they say, ‘bless her heart,’” McIver wrote on X in response to the Lowcountry congresswoman’s expulsion resolution.
Mace’s bill notes that there is precedent for expelling members of Congress who have been charged with crimes but not yet convicted.
Lying Long Island Rep. George Santos (R-NY) was expelled from the House in December 2023 following the release of a scathing House Ethics Committee report and as he faced a sprawling 23-count federal indictment.
Santos, 36, eventually pleaded guilty to two counts — committing wire fraud and aggravated identity theft – after his expulsion and was sentenced to more than seven years behind bars last month.
Mace is sending her measure to the House Ethics Committee for consideration, rather than immediately trying to force a vote.
“Members of Congress swear an oath to uphold the Constitution and the laws of this country — not to obstruct them,” Mace said. “This isn’t a matter of partisan politics. It’s about whether we’re going to hold Members of Congress to the same legal standards as every other American.”
The resolution faces long odds in the House, where it would require the support of two-thirds of lawmakers to pass.
Democratic House leadership has already rallied in support of McIver, describing the charges against her as “extreme,” “morally bankrupt” and lacking “any basis in law or fact.”
“The proceeding initiated by the so-called U.S. Attorney in New Jersey is a blatant attempt by the Trump administration to intimidate Congress and interfere with our ability to serve as a check and balance on an out-of-control executive branch,” top House Democrats, including Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), said of the charges against McIver in a joint statement on Monday.
“House Democrats will not be intimidated by the Trump administration. Not today. Not ever.”
Mace contended in response that “[i]n a time when public trust in government is at a historic low, the House must act decisively” – and boot the New Jersey Democrat.
“The evidence is clear. The charges are serious. And the public deserves to know that criminal conduct in the halls of Congress has consequences.”
