WASHINGTON — Vice President Kamala Harris is making a last-minute journey to Tennessee on Friday, hours after the Republican-controlled House expelled two Democratic lawmakers from the Legislature in retaliation for his or her function in a protest calling for extra gun management within the aftermath of a faculty capturing in Nashville. A 3rd Democrat was narrowly spared by a one-vote margin.

Harris will meet with lawmakers, in addition to younger individuals advocating for more durable gun management legal guidelines, in accordance with a tweet from her spokesperson, Kirsten Allen. She may also meet privately with expelled state Reps. Justin Jones and Justin Pearson and with Rep. Gloria Johnson, who survived the vote for her ouster.

The go to comes after President Joe Biden calling the expulsions “shocking, undemocratic, and without precedent.”

“Rather than debating the merits of the issue (of gun control), these Republican lawmakers have chosen to punish, silence, and expel duly-elected representatives of the people of Tennessee,” Biden stated in a Thursday assertion.

The oustings of Jones and Pearson, who're each Black, drew accusations of racism. Johnson, who's white, was allowed to proceed to serve within the chamber. Republican management denied that race was an element.

GOP leaders stated Thursday’s actions - used solely a handful instances because the Civil War - had been essential to keep away from setting a precedent that lawmakers’ disruptions of House proceedings by protest can be tolerated.

Republican state Rep. Gino Bulso stated the three Democrats had “effectively conducted a mutiny.”

Most state legislatures retain the ability to expel members, however it's typically a rarely-used punishment for lawmakers accused of great misconduct.

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