House censures Rep. Al Green for outburst during Trump speech
Washington — The House voted Thursday morning to censure Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas for disrupting President Trump during his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
In a 224 to 198 vote, the House approved a censure resolution against Green, with 10 Democrats joining all Republicans in favor of the move. Two members, including Green, voted present.
Green is the 28th lawmaker in U.S. history to be censured by the House. After the vote, he was ordered to stand in the well of the chamber while the resolution, which called his behavior "a breach of proper conduct," was read aloud.
Minutes into Mr. Trump's speech on Tuesday, Green stood and raised his cane in the president's direction and shouted. House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, warned Green to take his seat and "maintain decorum," but Green refused. Johnson then directed the sergeant at arms to "restore order" and "remove this gentleman from the chamber."
What does it mean to censure a congressman?
Censure is essentially a formal rebuke by the House for some form of misconduct. The punishment usually requires the censured member to stand in front of the dais in the House chamber while the resolution is read by the presiding member — Johnson, in Green's case. It does not remove the member from office or impose any other penalties, beyond the reputational damage and historical notoriety that accompanies it.
The practice was relatively rare throughout history, but it has become more frequent in recent years. Three other Democrats — Adam Schiff of California, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Jamaal Bowman of New York — were censured in 2023. Republican Rep. Paul Gosar faced the punishment in 2021.
It was most common during the Civil War and Reconstruction, when 13 members were censured for offenses ranging from assault in the Capitol to insulting another member.
Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse of Washington, who introduced the resolution to censure Green, said the move was not personal and called it a "difficult step."
"We cannot ignore the willful disruption intended to stop a proceeding," Newhouse, who is one of two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach Mr. Trump over the Capitol riot, said Wednesday. "Without decorum, without respect, what do we got? What do we have, truly?"
Newhouse said Green's behavior reflects on all members of Congress and the moment serves as a reminder "that we all need to raise our level of accountability."
"This is truly a wakeup call for this chamber," he said. "The lack of decorum has reached a new low. When the president of the United States cannot even come into our chamber invited and complete his speech without the interaction that we saw last night, we have to take this action of censure."
Before Green spoke during floor debate on the resolution Wednesday, he walked over to Newhouse and shook his hand. Green said he did not hold any ill will toward Johnson, the officers who escorted him out of the president's speech or those who supported his censure.
"The president indicated that he had a mandate. I said to the president, 'You do not have a mandate to cut Medicaid.' I have constituents who need Medicaid. They will suffer and some will die if they don't get Medicaid," Green said of why he heckled Mr. Trump. "I would do it again."
Democratic Rep. Jim McGovern of Massachusetts said Republicans have shown "selective outrage" in their condemnation of certain behavior.
"I can't believe we're having this debate," McGovern said Wednesday.
The conservative House Freedom Caucus, however, thought that the censure did not go far enough and is seeking to remove Green from his committee assignment. The group said it will introduce a resolution to strip him of his seat on the House Financial Services Committee, and expects Johnson to bring it up for a vote next week.
"Green was censured in a bipartisan vote but he needs real consequences to demonstrate that no one gets to disrupt the People's business in lame attempts to derail President Trump's agenda," said Rep. Andy Harris of Maryland, who leads the caucus.
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