Rep. Al Green (D-TX) was censured on Thursday for his “defiant” outburst during President Donald Trump‘s joint address to Congress.
In a contentious vote that devolved into a shouting match, the House approved the censure 224-198, with 10 Democrats joining Republicans. The resolution came from Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-WA) and was one of three possible censures against Green for interrupting Trump while he spoke to lawmakers on Tuesday.
The 10 Democrats were Reps. Ami Bera (D-CA), Ed Case (D-HI), Jim Costa (D-CA), Laura Gillen (D-NY), Jim Himes (D-CT), Chrissy Houlahan (D-PA), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Jared Moskowitz (D-FL), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-WA), and Tom Suozzi (D-NY).
Rep. Shomari Figures (D-AL) joined Green in voting present.
Several progressives gathered alongside Green when his censure resolution was being read, singing “We Shall Overcome,” while lawmakers could be seen in heated conversations on the House floor. Republicans yelled “order” as one House Democrat shouted, “Shame on you!”
After the censure arguments, the House Freedom Caucus said it would file a resolution to strip Green of his committee assignments. Rep. Andy Ogles (R-TN) is also seeking to strip committee assignments from those Democrats who shouted at GOP lawmakers on the floor.
“If you want to act like a child in the Halls of Congress, you will be treated like a child,” Ogles said. “There must be accountability. The American people deserve better than petty, juvenile stunts in one of the most sacred chambers of government.”
Green said Wednesday he would “do it again” after he yelled “You have no mandate” at the president’s address on Tuesday night.
“I think that on some questions, questions of conscience, you have to be willing to suffer the consequences,” said Green, who has repeatedly filed articles of impeachment against Trump. “And I have said I will.”
Houlahan said in a post to X she engaged in a “heated conversation” with Johnson on the floor.
“I called Speaker Johnson out on his and his party’s hypocrisy and reminded him of the many instances in which Republicans have blatantly broken the rules of conduct without consequence,” Houlahan said. “He told me if he punished each instance, he’d have to censure half the House. I suggested he do just that. Rules are rules.”
The majority of Democrats remained silent and seated during the address after House leaders had urged a “strong, determined and dignified Democratic presence in the chamber.”
Little to no clapping was seen from the Democratic side from the time Trump entered the chamber to his exit, and almost no Democrats stood for applause lines during the president’s address.
Besides Green, a handful of Democrats protested the speech by exiting the chamber and removing their jackets, revealing shirts that said “Resist” or “No kings live here” on the back. Among them were Reps. Maxwell Frost (D-FL), Melanie Stansbury (D-NM), Jasmine Crockett (D-TX), and Sydney Kamlager-Dove (D-CA).
Stansbury had held up a paper sign that said “This Is Not Normal” as Trump entered the House chamber, leading Rep. Lance Gooden (R-TX) to rip it from her hands.
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Newhouse denied on Wednesday that the censure resolution was a way to rebuild his relationship with the president and his allies. The Washington centrist is one of the last two remaining GOP lawmakers in Congress who voted to impeach Trump.
“This is about the House of Representatives, Congress, and respecting the rules of decorum that we have,” Newhouse said after introducing his resolution. “This is bigger than a particular relationship. This is about the House of Representatives.”
