House Democrats Block GOP Attempt To Censure Maxine Waters

The House of Representatives voted Tuesday to block a resolution from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) to censure Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters.

Last weekend, Waters called for protesters to “get more confrontational” if former officer Derek Chauvin was acquitted for the killing of George Floyd. Democrats had a narrow path to defeat the censure but the vote ended 216-210 along party lines

After the vote, Waters thanked her fellow Democrats for their support.

The vote to censure Waters came just before Chauvin was convicted on all three counts of second-degree manslaughter, second-degree unintentional murder, and third-degree murder. Chauvin will be back in court in eight weeks for sentencing. He potentially faces up to 40 years in prison for the second-degree murder charge., up to 25 for third-degree murder, and up to 10 years for manslaughter.

However, since Chauvin has no prior convictions and because he can’t serve consecutive sentences, he’ll likely face anywhere from 10 to 20 years based on the judge’s discretion.

“Today is special, but when I talk about why it is so important to have diversity and inclusion, it is because of Keith Ellison, who is the district attorney,” Waters said. “To the degree that we get more people in positions of power, particularly in the criminal justice system, we’re gonna be able to get more justice.”