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Ahead of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s controversial joint address to Congress on Wednesday, several lawmakers announced they won’t be attending.
Some — like Rep. Sara Jacobs, who wrote an article for MSNBC, and even Kentucky Republican Rep. Thomas Massie — made clear in their announcements that their absence is an act of protest.
Meanwhile, House Speaker Mike Johnson is trying his damnedest to prevent any expressions of dissent from disrupting Netanyahu's speech. In an effort to pre-empt protests in the room, Johnson sent out a Dear Colleague letter on Tuesday in which he threatened the arrest of anyone in the galleries who interrupts the speech. Should members of Congress create "a disturbance," Johnson said the sergeant at arms will intervene.
Protests by guests at congressional hearings can routinely result in arrests. Last year, 10 protesters were arrested last year at a hearing on the Israel-Gaza war, and the father of a Parkland shooting victim was arrested at a hearing on gun regulations.
Johnson made a similar threat in Milwaukee last week at an RNC-adjacent event hosted by the Republican Jewish Coalition.
“There’s a number of Democrats in the House who have said they’re going to boycott the event,” he said, “and then some others are gonna protest. Listen, we’re gonna have extra sergeants at arms on the floor, and if anybody gets out of hand, the Speaker of the House will bang the gavel — we’re gonna arrest people if we have to do it. We’re gonna get the message out."
The message got out. Although it seems to contradict Republicans' claim that they're the “America First,” pro-free speech party, here’s one of their leaders threatening Americans with arrest if they protest a foreign leader speaking before the U.S. Congress.