House members again voted Thursday to punish Jamaal Bowman, a Democratic Rep. for setting off a fire alarm at a U.S. Capitol Office Building while the chamber was in session.

Bowman was defended by the majority of his party for opposing an effort that they felt lacked integrity and credibility. Bowman is now the third prominent progressive to be censured by the House this year. The punishment is one step below expulsion.

Bowman, defending himself in a floor debate on Wednesday, said: “It is painfully evident to me, my colleagues and to the American people that there are no serious Republicans and they lack the ability to legislate.” “Their censure against me today continues their inability of governance and serving the American people,” Bowman said Wednesday.

The House of Representatives’ 214-191 vote of censure for Bowman ends nearly a whole year of chaos and revenge. Since January, the House of Representatives has seen a member removed from a committee, the first ever removal of a Speaker in history, and just last week the expulsion for the third time since Civil War of a legislator.

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Rep. Lisa McClain (R-Mich.), who introduced the censure, defended the resolution. She claimed that Bowman had raised the alarm to “cause confusion and stop the House doing its business,” as lawmakers scrambled for a bill funding the government before the shutdown deadline.

McClain, in a press release, said: “It’s reprehensible for a member of Congress to go to such lengths as to stop House Republicans from bringing forward a vote that would keep the government running and Americans getting their paychecks.”

Bowman entered a guilty plea in October for a misdemeanor charge relating to the incident that occurred in the Cannon House Office Building. Bowman agreed to pay $1,000 in fines and complete three months probation. The false fire alarm charge will be removed from his record as part of an agreement reached with the prosecutors.

A fire alarm forced the evacuation of the entire building when the House was meeting and employees were in the building. After Capitol Police determined that there was no danger, the building was reopened one hour later.

Bowman apologized, saying that he had been trying to enter a door which was normally open but closed on that particular day due to the weekend.

Progressive Democrats who spoke out in his defence called the Republican effort at censure “unserious” and accused the other side of the aisle repeatedly of using the censure procedure against Democrats for political gain.

“Censure next me.” Hakeem Jeffreys, Democratic Leader on the Floor late Wednesday night, said: “That’s how useless your effort is.” It has no credibility. No integrity. No legitimacy. “Censure me and I will wear that censure next week, month or year as a badge of honour.”

The vote is the latest instance of the chamber’s use of punishments such as censures, which were once viewed only as punishments of last resort. They are now used routinely, and in a way that is often blatantly partisan.

During a floor debate, Rep. Jim McGovern (D-Mass.) said, “Under Republican Control, this chamber has been transformed into a place where trivial matters are debated passionately, but important issues not at all.” “Republicans are more focused on censurating people in Congress than passing legislation that helps people we represent, or improves this country in any manner.”

The censure of an elected official has no practical impact, but it is a severe reproach by colleagues. Those who are censured must usually stand in the chamber as the censure motion against them reads aloud.

Bowman has now become the 27th individual to have been censured in the House — and only the third this year. Last month, Republicans censured Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib from Michigan for her remarks about the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Adam Schiff, a Democrat from California, was censured in June for remarks he made years ago regarding investigations into Donald Trump’s ties with Russia.