Johnson considers raising threshold for House censure resolutions

EXCLUSIVE: Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., appears open to making it harder for House lawmakers to punish each other via a censure resolution.

The congressional leader sat down for an interview with Fox News Digital on Friday, the House’s first week back since the 43-day government shutdown began on October 1.

But the five-day legislative week was marked by volatile politics, with three separate lawmakers forcing votes to reprimand one of their colleagues — out of five total threats to do so.

“There’s a big wave of dismay about this. Members are so frustrated with what this has become — and I mean across the entire Republican conference, and I think on the Democratic side as well,” Johnson said. “I’ve told everyone that I’m open to these discussions, because I’m more frustrated than anyone with how this is delegated. I think we need to protect the institution.”

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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., speaks with reporters outside his office on the 28th day of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington, Oct. 28, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)

Johnson said those discussions focused specifically on raising the threshold needed to impose censorship.

Currently, any legislator can introduce a resolution of censure against another. Republicans and Democrats also used a mechanism this week known as a “privileged resolution” to force an immediate vote on reprimanding a colleague.

Johnson said “a lot of ideas” were being put forward to change the system.

“Members from across the conference have shared with me their thoughts and ideas on this, and we’re going to look at this deliberatively to determine what makes the most sense,” he said.

The speaker did not directly commit to a House-wide vote on legislation to change the censorship rule, but he said, “I think most of the discussion so far, again this is coming from members, is that we should raise the threshold so that it can’t just be a one-time individual quest by someone.” To do this, you must have agreement from a small group of members.

Rep. Nancy Mace introduced a censure resolution against fellow Republican Cory Mills, which failed. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images; David Dee Delgado/Getty Images)

“That would probably make it a more meaningful and useful tool, not an abusive tool,” Johnson said. “We don’t have a consensus on any particular idea, but it’s something that the vast majority of members of the organization are currently talking about.”

He also pushed back against media reports suggesting he wanted to change the rules regarding discharge petitions, another mechanism that rank-and-file lawmakers can use to impose their will on House leadership.

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Johnson said it’s not even something he’s considering at the moment.

A discharge petition allows lawmakers to initiate a vote on a measure over the objections of leaders, provided the petition has the support of a majority of the House.

It was recently used successfully by Reps. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., and Thomas Massie, R-Ky., on a bill requiring the Department of Justice (DOJ) to release its records on Jeffrey Epstein.

Rep. Ro Khanna, Democrat of California, speaks alongside Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, Republican of Georgia, and Rep. Thomas Massie, Republican of Kentucky, during a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington, Nov. 18, 2025. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)

Johnson ended up voting for the bill with all but one House lawmaker, despite concerns that its language may not do enough to protect the privacy of Epstein’s victims and other innocent people whose names might be implicated in the process.

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He told Fox News Digital, however, that he has no plans to make any changes to that process.

“Someone quoted me saying, ‘I’m going to raise the threshold for release,’ but that wasn’t even part of the discussion and it wasn’t something I anticipated,” Johnson said. “This discussion has focused solely on censorship because it is so commonly used today.”

Censures are traditionally a rare reprimand reserved for the most egregious cases of violation of House decorum. However, they are increasingly used in today’s increasingly tense political context.