Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez vehemently defended her democratic colleague Jamaal Bowman after it emerged he triggered a fire alarm during a vote on government funding in the House.

Republican Nicole Malliotakis, has drafted a motion to expel Mr Bowman from the chamber, accusing him of trying to delay the vote.

Ms Ocasio-Cortez told CNN’s Jake Tapper that the GOP caucus should “check their own values”, as they file a motion against Bowman while “protecting” Congressman Santos who has been charged with fraud, money laundering and theft of public funds.

Mr Bowman said he was "rushing to vote" and when a door would not open, he "activated the fire alarm, mistakenly thinking it would open the door".