«Words taken down.»

That term of art may not mean much off Capitol Hill. But it’s a phrase which usually signals there’s a ruckus in the House of Representatives.

The House witnessed one such melee recently. Lawmakers debated a war powers resolution for Lebanon. Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., pushed the measure, hoping to restrict President Donald Trump’s conflict in Iran. Especially as other places in the region emerge as flashpoints.

Tlaib, a Palestinian-America, is one of only two Muslim women in Congress. She is one of the most controversial members of Congress. And she often speaks out against Israel.

«We must end U.S. participation in the Israeli apartheid regime’s invasion of Lebanon. The Israeli military continues to target journalists like Amal Khalil and use our tax dollars to commit war crimes,» said Tlaib.

RASHIDA TLAIB HIT WITH HOUSE CENSURE THREAT, ACCUSED OF ‘CELEBRATING TERRORISM’ IN PRO-PALESTINIAN SPEECH

But the House floor devolved into a verbal fracas when Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, tore into Tlaib, attacking her personally and mentioning Hezbollah during the floor debate.

«Its members are butchers that you like to hang out with to a certain extent,» charged Miller, who is Jewish. «Yes, you advocate for terrorists on a daily basis. You advocate for a terrorist regime every single day.»

Tlaib hollered at Miller from across the chamber, but it wasn’t clear what she said since the Michigan Democrat wasn’t on mic.

«Oh, I’m sorry. Are we getting a little emotional?» chided Miller.

Tlaib erupted, at that, shouting even more loudly at Miller.

Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., presided over the debate from the dais. Obernolte had enough of the verbal judo and slammed down the gavel.

«Colleagues, this is a serious topic. We will debate it respectfully and deliberately,» admonished Obernolte. «Is the gentlewoman from Michigan making a motion?»

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Rep. Jay Obernolte, R-Calif., attends a House Natural Resources Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands hearing on the 9/11 Memorial and Museum Act and other legislation in the Longworth Building on Dec. 7, 2021. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc/Getty Images)

Tlaib had made it to one of the mics in the chamber by this point.

«Yes, Mr. Speaker, I am. That is a direct attack on my character. I please request to strike the words down,» said Tlaib.

And there it was. «Words taken down.»

Tlaib may have garbled the precise verbiage of the parliamentary request. But her motion brought debate on the war powers resolution and all other business before the House to a screeching halt.

«The gentleman from Ohio will be seated,» Obernolte instructed Miller.

In effect, Tlaib’s motion is the parliamentary equivalent of pulling someone over for speeding. You might get a ticket. Maybe not. Especially if you’re cooperative with the officer. But the authorities will first investigate. And that’s what unfolded on the House floor.

During this stasis, the House conducts no business. The House suspends speeches. Amendments. Votes. Nothing happens on the floor until they figure out if someone broke the rules.

The phrase «words taken down» refers to the process of the House’s institutional staff and stenographers to document or «take down» language uttered by a member that may violate House rules. The House prohibits members from personal attacks on fellow lawmakers, impugning the motives of their colleagues or «engaging in personalities.» One member can’t disparage another personally.

Tlaib clearly believed that Miller broke House rules by saying she would «like to hang out» and «advocate for terrorists.» Tlaib also believed the line about her «getting a little emotional» may have crossed the line, too.

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Rep. Max Miller, R-Ohio, said he stood by his remarks associating Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., with Hezbollah «butchers.» (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

If it’s pretty clear that a member broke the rules of decorum, someone from leadership or key staff may ask offending lawmaker to withdraw the language in question and apologize. But if the member resists, the House has no alternative but to rule that member out of order. The House then expunges the speech and he or she is suspended from speaking on the House floor the rest of the day.

If the chair rules that member violated the rules, it’s possible that someone could appeal the ruling of the chair. That would entail a roll call vote, where the entire House votes yes or no on whether they believe their colleague broke the rules. Or, another member might move to «table the appeal of the ruling of the chair.» In that scenario, the House votes on whether to kill or set aside the appeal. Thus, the vote is a step removed from actually voting on appealing the chair’s ruling.

After an hour of delay, it was clear that Miller wouldn’t apologize or withdraw his statement.

«The words of the gentleman from Ohio contain an allegation that the gentlewoman from Michigan is a ‘butcher’ and affiliated with a terrorist organization,» said Obernolte. «Such remarks impugn the patriotism and loyalty of the member of the House.»

Obernolte added that «the remarks contain personalities and are not in order. Without objection, the offending words are stricken from the record.»

So the House sanctioned Miller for breaking the rules and benched him for the remainder of the day.

House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Brian Mast, R-Fla., managed the Lebanon war powers debate on the floor for the GOP. Since the House muted Miller, Mast spoke on his behalf.

«I’m going to deliver a message from Rep. Miller of Ohio,» said Mast, who quoted this Republican colleague. «‘Yes, I said it. I own it. And I stand by it.’»

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Rep. Brian Mast, R-Fla., said supporters of the Lebanon war powers resolution are acting as «proxies for Hezbollah.» (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc)

The Florida Republican then asked the House if he could submit for the record an article entitled ‘Rashida Talib, member of secret Facebook Group where Hamas Terrorists glorified.’»

Tlaib objected.

Mast then tried to submit into the record a transcript about Tlaib allegedly speaking about genocide.

Tlaib objected to that as well.

Yours truly first encountered a parliamentary donnybrook like this in 1994 while working at C-SPAN. Rep. Maxine Waters, D-Calif., tangled with then-Rep. Pete King, R-N.Y. The House ruled Waters out of order. Then-House Speaker Tom Foley, D-Wash., came to the floor to mete out the punishment, not leaving the umpiring to a more junior lawmaker.

The day after the Tlaib/Miller brouhaha, Obernolte released a bipartisan framework to help establish guardrails for AI.

I pressed Obernolte on how an AI chatbot might handle the dust-up if it were presiding over the House.

«AI is actually very good at this. You give it a rules manual and then you give it a specific instance and say ‘Is this in compliance with rules or is this a violation of the rules?’» said Obernolte. «I think last night was obviously someone engaging in personalities. And, I think I made the correct ruling. I think AI would have also made the correct ruling.»

It wasn’t that long ago that the actual Speaker of the House came to the floor to sort out a kerfuffle between two members. Could the House ever delegate such refereeing to AI?

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Taking down words? Ruling members out of order? Suspending members for additional speeches that day if they get out of line?

One can imagine that members will say a lot of words worthy of being taken down if AI ever becomes the parliamentary umpire in the House of Representatives.

Reacción

EXCLUSIVE — Noncitizens in a key blue state were on the voter rolls for years — and some even voted in prior elections, according to documents obtained via public records request.

The New Jersey Republican Party (NJGOP) and the Republican National Committee (RNC) requested voter rolls from all 21 counties in the Garden State and found multiple instances of noncitizens seeking naturalization asking to be removed from the rolls, claiming they were unknowingly registered to vote. Most were registered as Democrats.

Noncitizens cannot vote in state or federal elections, and the candidates for citizenship worried that being on the rolls would disqualify them.

In official letters viewed by Fox News Digital from Atlantic County, Superintendent of Elections & Commissioner of Registration Maureen Bugdon certified that noncitizens came to her asking to be removed.

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«Please allow this letter to confirm that on today’s date, the below referenced individual came before this office to confirm her registration and voter status,» the typical letter reads. «She relayed that she did not wish to be a New Jersey registered voter and does not understand how she became registered through the Department of Motor Vehicles, allegedly.»

Most of the letters confirmed that the noncitizens did not have a voting record, but not all.

One noncitizen, who the county said was removed from the rolls in 2015, voted several times in 2000 and 2001, and in the 2008 general election. Another voted in a primary election in 2005 and a municipal election in 2000.

A letter showing Atlantic County Election Commissioner Maureen Bugdon certifiying that a New Jersey noncitizen was on the voter rolls and wished to be removed. (Obtained by the RNC and NJGOP)

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Other documents showed noncitizens directly asking to be removed from the rolls through a state voter registration cancellation form.

When prompted about why they wished to be removed, the vast majority of the unknowingly registered voters checked a box labeled «other» and wrote that they were not citizens.

In Atlantic County alone, Fox News Digital reviewed more than 50 documents from noncitizens attesting that they were registered to vote unknowingly.

OVERSIGHT GROUP SEEKS DOCS FROM WALZ’S MINNESOTA AS DOJ REBUKES VIRGINIA VOTER-ROLL MAINTENANCE

A noncitizen on the New Jersey voter rolls used this removal form to request to be unregistered. (Obtained by the RNC and NJGOP)

RNC Chairman Joe Gruters says the group found hundreds of noncitizen registrants in New Jersey who are likely only the tip of the iceberg, but that New Jersey and other Democrat-run states are unwilling to disclose information about their voter registration list maintenance processes. The organization has requested that information from 48 states.

«I mean, it’s really incredible because here the Democrats are saying that, you know, noncitizens never vote, [that], this is a non-issue, but every county we’re finding people that are self-reporting now, and I’m glad we’re doing these records request because it’s really eye-opening, because this is just the people that have self-reported,» Gruters told Fox News Digital.

«You want a democracy that’s secure and elections that are free and safe and that people can depend upon, and people have full confidence in,» he said.

Republican National Committee Chair Joe Gruters is claiming victory over Democrat efforts to block efforts to kick noncitizens skipping out of North Carolina jury duty from the state’s voter rolls. (Patrick T. Fallon/AFP)

RNC LAUNCHES MULTIMILLION-DOLLAR ELECTION INTEGRITY PUSH IN 17 STATES AHEAD OF MIDTERMS

The RNC in 2024 made a full-throated election integrity push to ensure, one that continues to this day, according to Gruters.

He told Fox News Digital that the group is «bringing the hammer down» and that it has «boots on the ground» across the country to ensure even more diligence in November.

«We have staffers already in 17 states working on these issues to make sure that, like I said, it goes back to having a safe and secure election that’s free and fair,» he said.

RNC GETS DAY AT SUPREME COURT TO CHALLENGE LATE-ARRIVING MAIL BALLOTS

Gruters is also optimistic about another RNC battle on the election integrity front.

The Supreme Court is soon set to decide on the case of Watson vs. RNC, a challenge to laws that allow ballots to be cast by mail on election day, but counted days later. The RNC’s goal is eliminate the practice, which Gruters highlighted as California continues to count ballots from Tuesday night’s primary elections almost a week after polls closed.

Supreme Court Associate Justices Samuel Alito and Clarence Thomas waited to leave the stage at the conclusion of inauguration ceremonies in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 20, 2025, in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/POOL/AFP via Getty Images)

He said a win in that case could be «one of our biggest election victories ever.»

«I mean, just what’s happened with [Los Angeles Mayoral Candidate] Spencer Pratt should open your eyes, and you should be sick to your stomach,» he said. «This should not be allowed in America.»

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Gruters said that when elections have an «open-ended target date,» it opens the doors for potential manipulation.

«We’re fighting hard to put an end to this, and this, like I said, this could be probably our biggest win ever from an election integrity standpoint by stopping this and making sure that election day means exactly what it says, election day.»

Democratic New Jersey Gov. Mickie Sherrill’s office did not return a request for comment. Neither did the New Jersey Motor Vehicle Commission or Atlantic County officials.

A spokesman for the New Jersey Department of Motor Vehicles said  it’s rare that noncitizens end up on the rolls. 

«MVC, together with state and local partners across New Jersey, uses rigorous processes to ensure eligible individuals register to vote through the MVC. Consistent with all applicable laws, individuals who apply to register to vote through the MVC affirm their citizenship. While it is exceedingly rare that non-citizens claim citizenship or other voter eligibility through the MVC, such instances are taken extremely seriously by this agency.»

SEE THE FULL CACHE OF DOCUMENTS HERE: