Last month, when the House passed a bill providing $61 billion in aid to Ukraine, a group of House Democrats began flying Ukrainian flags on the House floor. The flag-wavers – among them New Jersey Reps. Bill Pascrell (D-Paterson), Mikie Sherrill (D-Montclair), and Rob Menendez (D-Jersey City) – did so in celebration of a key foreign policy priority for which they had been fighting for months.
An ethics complaint filed today by the right-wing Heritage Foundation argues that they should be penalized for it.
According to the complaint, the flag-waving by 28 House Democrats broke House rules requiring House members to “behave at all times in a manner that shall reflect creditably on the House” and “not engage in disorderly or disruptive conduct in the Chamber.”
“The conduct of waving the flag impugns the reputation of the House because foreign flags dilute the primacy and importance of deep American traditions, American lives sacrificed, and the land that the American flag represents,” the complaint alleges. “Not only do these flagrant displays of foreign capitulation disrespect our American heritage and the American way of life, but it also directly insults the American people.”
The complaint specifically calls out Pascrell as a ringleader of the group, and cites “Rep. Michelle Sherrill” (Michelle is the congresswoman’s middle name) and “Rep. Robert Jacobsen Menendez Jr” (the congressman’s name has no Junior, since his father does not share his middle name) as two co-participants.
It seems unlikely that the complaint, which was filed with the House Ethics Committee, will lead to any real consequences for its targets. But some House Republicans are working on a proposal to change House rules in order to specifically bar flying the flag of any country besides that of the United States on the House floor.
Pascrell, for his part, said that he considers the complaint – from a deeply conservative group that is, among other things, behind Donald Trump’s Project 2025 – to be a badge of honor.
“I’ve just been informed a right-wing Republican fascist group is filing a complaint against me and 27 of my colleagues for brandishing Ukrainian flags on the House floor,” Pascrell said. “I’m honored and have one response: Screw Putin and Slava Ukraini!”
Menendez concurred: “Slava Ukraini!”