Assemblywoman Katie Brennan and Assemblyman Brian Bergen are sparring over a Brennan bill that features hidden profanity aimed at U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. (Brennan photo by Anne-Marie Caruso/Bergen photo by Hal Brown)
A first-term Democratic assemblywoman is facing a complaint from one of her Republican colleagues over an expletive laced into the title of a bill that targets U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
The complaint filed by Assemblyman Brian Bergen (R-Morris) alleges Assemblywoman Katie Brennan (D-Hudson) violated the Legislature’s code of ethics, breaking the public trust by using a bill title to advance a political message.
“Legislation is an official instrument of government. When a member uses official legislative mechanisms to advance vulgar messaging rather than clearly describing the purpose of a bill, members of the public can reasonably conclude that the Legislature is being used for performative provocation rather than deliberative governance,” Bergen said in a complaint to the Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards.
The bill in question is the “Fight Unlawful Conduct and Keep Individuals and Communities Empowered Act,” introduced last month by Brennan and Assemblyman Ravi Bhalla (D-Hudson), who also represents the 32nd Legislative District.
The bill would allow individuals to sue civil immigration authorities for constitutional violations. Under the bill, juries and judges awarding damages must consider whether an immigration official wore a mask, refused to identify themselves, failed to wear a body camera, or violated a court order, among other things.
The first letters of each word in the bill’s title spell out an expletive and the word “ICE.”
Brennan dismissed the allegations as unserious.
“While my colleagues and I are working to protect New Jersey residents from masked ICE agents, Assemblyman Bergen is busy filing complaints about a bill name. Please be serious,” she said in a statement. “This is the same Assemblyman who called one of his colleagues a swear word on the Assembly floor. He clearly doesn’t have an issue with profanity. He has an issue with ICE being held accountable for kidnapping and murdering people.”
In remarks captured by a hot microphone during a 2021 floor debate over a gun control bill, Bergen, who often spars over rules on the chamber floor with Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-Middlesex), called Assemblyman Joe Danielsen (D-Somerset) an “a**hole.”
Bergen said the title of Brennan’s bill does not live up to the Legislature’s dignity, appeared to be intentional, and invited residents to infer legislative resources had been misused. The joint committee should investigate and issue a written determination, he said.
Bergen did not file a complaint against Bhalla, who is also a bill sponsor, because Brennan was “the sole responsible party in the Assembly for its introduction in the current form,” he said, adding he submitted no complaint against the sponsors of a Senate companion bill because he does not sit in that chamber.
The Joint Legislative Committee on Ethical Standards is made up of attorneys, not legislators, and complaints before the body seldom advance.
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