Tennessee GOP House Speaker Suspends Dems From Committees for Voting Map Protest

Tennessee’s Republican House speaker is punishing Democrats for participating in a chaotic end to the special session lawmakers used to redraw congressional maps to bolster a GOP candidate in the midterm election.

House Speaker Cameron Sexton sent a letter Tuesday to House Minority Leader Karen Camper notifying her that Democratic Caucus members will be removed from all standing committees and subcommittees except in cases where their membership is required by House rules. Letters to individual members told them to contact Camper for information.

All 24 House Democrats are barred, including Reps. Justin Jones of Nashville and Justin Pearson of Memphis, a congressional candidate. They both were ousted, then reinstated, after vocal Democratic pushback in 2023 following a House chamber protest over gun laws in the wake of The Covenant School shooting that claimed the lives of six people, including three children.

The Crossville Republican cited the incident in which House Democrats gathered at the front of the chamber as Republicans voted to redistrict the state’s congressional map last week and locked arms in a show of solidarity against the GOP plan.

Similarly, Senate Speaker Randy McNally is considering possible action against six Senate Democrats who locked arms in the well at the end of their session in a “blatant violation of civility and decorum,” according to spokesperson Adam Kleinheider.

Sexton said in his letter that the House’s Democrats, who all voted against the redistricting map, blocked aisles, instigated and encouraged disruption in coordination with paid protesters and people in the gallery, distributed earplugs to members, used prohibited props and noisemakers on the House floor, showed a lack of respect toward members trying to speak on legislation and displayed “flagrant disregard” for the House’s permanent rules of order. Sexton provided no proof that protesters received payments.

Committee removal will affect Democrats only for the rest of the year, including summer meetings of committees such as Joint Government Operations and Fiscal Review. But if Sexton wins reelection to the speaker’s post again for the 115th legislation session starting in 2027, he could continue the ban or place Democrats in small numbers on inconsequential committees.

Camper, of Memphis, defended Democratic Caucus members, saying they were responding to “one of the most troubling abuses of power this legislature has seen in recent memory.” In apparent frustration, she said Republicans can mete out any punishment they want.

Camper accused Republicans of consistently abusing their “supermajority” — in which they hold a 65-24 advantage — and changing the rules to benefit themselves and punish those who challenge them.

In the special session, the legislature changed the state’s law against redistricting congressional seats in the middle of an apportionment cycle and redrew them nearly two months after the March 10 candidate qualifying deadline, setting a new May 15 deadline.

The new map splits the former 9th U.S. Congressional District in majority-Black, majority-Democrat Memphis into two seats and dilutes them with rural and suburban white counties stretching into Maury and Williamson counties in Middle Tennessee. The map’s Republican sponsors repeatedly said the map was redrawn to “maximize partisan advantage.”

Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court gutted a key provision in the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Gov. Bill Lee called the special session at President Donald Trump’s request to pick up another seat, giving Republicans a 9-0 sweep of the state’s congressional seats as the November election approaches. The map is tied up in three lawsuits but remains in effect.

Despite brushing off the speaker’s punishment, Camper said it “still hurt.”

“It felt like being stabbed in the back, then having the knife pushed in deeper and turned to finish the job because I uncovered what I believe was a deliberate symbolic scheme behind the handling of debate during this extraordinary session,” Camper said in her statement.

Camper pointed out the 47 minutes Republicans allowed for debate by each side on the redistricting maps was a “clear nod” to the 47th president and that the debate structure totaled 54 minutes, “a nod to 1954,” year of the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision that led to school desegregation.

Sexton could barely be heard as he adjourned the special session sine die on May 7, bringing it to an end as whistles, horns and sirens blared in the House chamber. Camper, though, said the committee suspensions have nothing to do with decorum or rules.

“This is about power and control,” she said in her statement. “When Democrats stand up, speak out and expose what is happening in this chamber, the response from this supermajority is retaliation.”