Tennessee Three: Nashville council members pledge to reinstate expelled Rep. Justin Jones
by Brady Knox, Breaking News Reporter |
April 07, 2023 04:29 PM
A majority of Nashville Metropolitan Council members pledged they would vote to reinstate former state Rep. Justin Jones. Jones and fellow Democratic Rep. Justin Pearson were expelled from the House for a protest in favor of gun control.
At least 23 of the 39-member council either announced on social media or told NBC News that they condemned Thursday's expulsion and would vote to reinstate Jones as early as possible. The council is slated to hold a special meeting on Monday to decide whether to replace or reinstate the expelled state representative.
Several council members told NBC News that hundreds of their constituents had reached out decrying Thursday's decision and demanding Jones's reinstatement.
“They removed the voice from 140,000 people who voted for them," Council member Burkley Allen told the outlet. "It’s a terrible precedent to set, that 'we disagree with you and you’ve disrupted our House proceedings and therefore we’re expelling you.' That’s not the way democracy works.”
The pledge means that Jones will likely be reinstated to his position — a possibility that Republicans made clear they were aware of during the over six-and-a-half-hour-long debate before the vote to expel Jones. Rep. Gino Bulso (R) specifically denounced the notion that the expulsion was undemocratic. He argued that his constituents could vote him back in after the expulsion.
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https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/majority-nashville-council-reinstate-expelled-jones