The holidays are approaching, but Congress isn't sending good tidings: Fresh off censuring Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.), House Republicans are set to vote next week on formalizing an impeachment inquiry into President Biden.
Why it matters: Personal animus has defined the first year of the House GOP's majority, with rank-and-file lawmakers forcing votes on censures, impeachment and a historic expulsion — often without the support of leadership.
Driving the news: The House voted 214-191 on Thursday to censure Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) for pulling a Capitol Hill fire alarm ahead of a vote in September to head off a government shutdown.
Just three Democrats joined Republicans in voting for censure, making it essentially a partisan maneuver.
Bowman is the third lawmaker to face the symbolic rebuke this year: Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) was censured last month for her criticism of Israel and Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) was censured in June for his promotion of Trump-Russia allegations.
The House also voted to expel former GOP Rep. George Santos this month after a bombshell Ethics Committee report accused him of a "complex web" of criminal wrongdoing.
It was the first successful expulsion vote since 2002 and made Santos only the sixth House member in U.S. history to be expelled.
And who could forget the unprecedented ouster of former Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) from his post? He announced this week he will resign from Congress at the end of the month.
What's next: The House is slated to vote next week on formally authorizing an impeachment inquiry into Biden, a move that once-reticent moderate Republicans have warmed to.
The move is geared toward bolstering House committees in court battles at they try to subpoena Biden family members about their finances.
The House has already voted on several impeachment resolutions forced to a vote by individual members, including against Biden in June and Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas last month — both of which were tabled.
The big picture: The rise in punitive actions this congressional session doesn't exist in a vacuum — it's part of a years-long trend of Congress devolving into a vessel for open partisan warfare.
The 118th Congress in particular has been a powerhouse for these fights, with 2023 seeing easily the most censure, impeachment, expulsion and contempt resolutions of any year at least since 1989, according to data from Quorum.
The number of these measures has risen precipitously since several high-profile fights over impeachment and censure in June.
What we're hearing: Lawmakers in both parties who want to work across the aisle and pass legislation are growing impatient with the continued dominance of partisan fights on the House floor.
"We should be focused on getting stuff done," said one House Republican. "We are hopeful the deck has been cleared and we return to our regular broadcast."
"All they do is vacate the chair, expulsions, censures, reprimands, impeachment," said Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.).
"There is no positive agenda for America. They don't even pretend that they have one anymore," Raskin continued. "It's a politics of spectacle that they got from Donald Trump. ... "Every day we walk in here it's just another version of 'The Apprentice.'"
Between the lines: Democrats have accused Republicans of pursuing things like censure and impeachment to distract from their difficulties in passing spending bills and other substantive legislation.
"This censure vote is a Republican attempt to continue chaos that they hope will disguise their incompetence," Bowman said in a note to Democrats ahead of the vote on him Tuesday morning, a copy of which was obtained by Axios.