Rep. Al Green (D-TX) was censured by the House of Representatives for disrupting President Donald Trump‘s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
In one of the highlights of a raucous House chamber during Trump’s speech, Green was removed when he refused to stop interrupting Trump. Green shouted that the president did not have a mandate to cut Medicaid.
The vote today was 224-198 to censure Green, with 10 Democrats joining Republicans on the resolution. After the vote, Democrats surrounded Green and sang, “We Shall Overcome.” Some members continued to argue with Republicans.
Green voted “present.”
On Wednesday, Green told reporters, “The president said that he had a mandate, and I was making it clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid.”
Green said that his tactics “is the best way to get across to a person who uses incivility against our civility.”
He said that he was not fighting the censure. “I’ll accept the punishment, but it’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.”
A censure does not include any other punishment than a public reprimand.
The House has increasingly turned to censure votes as a way of trying to punish members. Adam Schiff was censured in 2023 over the Trump-Russia investigations, but he used the publicity surrounding the move to fundraise as he waged a successful campaign for the U.S. Senate.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) interrupted Joe Biden’s speeches to Congress, but Democratic efforts to censure her were sidelined in the GOP controlled House.
