A member of Congress was punished Saturday for not voting the party line. The Republican Party of Texas censured Rep. Tony Gonzales on a 57-5 vote of its executive committee, the Texas Tribune reports; there was one abstention. There was no public debate on the matter, and Gonzales did not attend the meeting. The original motion mentioned his support for the bipartisan gun law that passed with bipartisan support last year, his vote for a bill codifying protections for same-sex marriages, his lone opposition to the House rules package in January, and his lack of support for a border security bill advocated by a fellow Texas Republican.
The punishment was "for lack of fidelity to Republican principles and priorities," the state party said, per CNN. Gonzales argued that on Thursday, saying, "The reality is I've taken almost 1,400 votes, and the bulk of those have been with the Republican Party." The San Antonio lawmaker's district includes Uvalde, where 19 children and two teachers were killed last year in a mass shooting, and Gonzales said he had no regrets about supporting the gun safety legislation. If he had to decide again on that bill, he said, "I would vote twice on it if I could." (More Tony Gonzalez stories.)
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