Speaker Mike Johnson and the Adams Memorial Foundation Mark the 181st Anniversary of Overturning the Gag Rule in the U.S. Capitol

WASHINGTON, Dec. 9, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- Jackie Cushman, President of the Adams Memorial Foundation, and Members of the Adams Memorial Commission joined Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) in the U.S. Capitol to mark the 181^st Anniversary of the Gag Rule being overturned in the House.

On December 3^rd, 1844, in the culmination of John Quincy Adams' unrelenting fight against the rule that for eight years had automatically tabled every anti-slavery petition and, as he fiercely argued, silenced the Constitutional right to petition the Government, the House rescinded the Gag Rule.

This anniversary comes as the Adams Memorial Commission and Adams Memorial Foundation work to build a long-overdue memorial in our nation's capital honoring the Adams Family's legacy of service and countless contributions to the United States.

"Overturning the Gag Rule is among the many lasting impacts the Adams Family made on our government and the American way of life. It was a privilege to have the Speaker mark the 181^st anniversary of this momentous change to the House rules," said Adams Memorial Foundation President Jackie Cushman. "The son of a Founding Father and proud anti-slavery voice from a family of unimpeachable moral courage, John Quincy Adams is a major piece of the Adams legacy we will honor with memorial worthy of their contributions to the American Republic and civic virtue."

John Quincy Adams, a man devoted to the Union, viewed the Gag Rule as a direct assault on the Constitutional right to petition the government. He believed allowing Congress to silence citizens on an issue simply because it was controversial set a dangerous precedent. Adams argued relentlessly that suppressing anti-slavery petitions strengthened the power of slaveholding interests and weakened the United States, declaring in 1836 "the freedom of debate has been stifled in this House to a degree far beyond anything that ever has happened since the existence of the Constitution." His opposition was so persistent and fiery that he became the leading Congressional voice against the rule, seeing it not just as a procedural measure but as a moral and constitutional crisis that demanded resistance. His resistance proved successful when the rule was overturned 181 years ago this month.

SOURCE Adams Memorial Foundation