During official proceedings of the G.O.P.-controlled chamber, speaking about former President Donald J. Trumpās felony conviction has been forbidden, while disparaging President Biden and Democrats is routine.
The floor of the United States House of Representatives is supposed to be a dignified place, where lawmakers refer to each other as āgentlemanā or āgentle lady,ā speak only to the presiding officer, and never engage in personally disparaging remarks against rivals, an offense known as āengaging in personalities.ā
But what happens when the leader of one party is a convicted criminal whom a jury has found guilty of things that would normally be considered unmentionable on the House floor?
The history-making felony conviction of former President Donald J. Trump has raised some historic questions for the Houseās rules of decorum, which have existed for centuries but can be bent to the will of whichever party controls the majority-driven chamber.
The Republicans who now hold the majority have used those rules to impose what is essentially a gag order against talking about Mr. Trumpās hush-money payments to a porn actress or about the fact that he is a felon at all, notwithstanding that those assertions are no longer merely allegations but the basis of a juryās guilty verdict. Doing so, they have declared, is a violation of House rules.
In short, perhaps the only place in the United States where people are barred from talking freely about Mr. Trumpās crimes is the floor of what is often referred to as āthe peopleās House,ā where Republicans have gone so far as to erase one such mention from the official record.
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