Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, R-La., talks to reporters outside his office on Day 28 of the government shutdown, at the Capitol in Washington on Oct. 28, 2025. (J. Scott Applewhite/AP Photo)
Johnson said those talks have focused specifically on raising the threshold it takes to push a censure.
Currently, any one lawmaker can introduce a censure resolution against another. Both Republicans and Democrats have also wielded a mechanism this week known as a "privileged resolution" to force an immediate vote on rebuking a colleague.
Johnson said there's "a lot of ideas" being floated on changing the system.
"I've had members from across the conference bringing me their thoughts and ideas on that, and we'll be going through that in a deliberative fashion to figure out what makes the most sense," he said.
The speaker did not directly commit to a House-wide vote on legislation to change the rule on censure, but he said, "I think most of the discussion thus far, again this is coming from members, is that we should raise the threshold so that it can't just be a one-off individual quest by someone. You've got to have some agreement by some small group of members to do it."
Rep. Ro Khanna, D-Calif., speaks alongside Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., during a news conference on the Epstein Files Transparency Act outside the U.S. Capitol in Washington on Nov. 18, 2025. (Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
Johnson ended up voting for the bill along with all but one House lawmaker, despite airing concerns about its language possibly not doing enough to protect the privacy of Epstein's victims and other innocent people whose names may be caught up in the process.
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He told Fox News Digital, however, that he is not looking at making changes to that process.
"Somebody quoted me as saying, 'I'm going to raise the threshold for discharges', but that hasn't even been part of the discussion and not something that I've anticipated," Johnson said. "This discussion has been solely focused on the censure, because it's so commonly used now."
Censures are traditionally a rare rebuke reserved for the most egregious instances of violating House decorum. They've been used more and more frequently, however, in today's increasingly tense political environment.
Elizabeth Elkind is a politics reporter for Fox News Digital leading coverage of the House of Representatives. Previous digital bylines seen at Daily Mail and CBS News.
Follow on Twitter at @liz_elkind and send tips to elizabeth.elkind@fox.com
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/johnson-says-hes-open-changing-house-censure-rules-after-week-political-drama