House tees up final vote to censure Al Green for protest at Trump speech

The House on Wednesday teed up a final vote on a resolution to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for disrupting President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress.

The chamber voted 209-211-1 on a Democratic-led motion to table the censure resolution, falling short of the majority vote needed to block the measure from advancing. The resolution is now headed for a final vote, which is expected to take place Thursday morning.

Green voted “present.”

Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) introduced the censure resolution on Wednesday, one day after Green stood up and yelled during Trump’s speech, prompting his removal from the chamber. The measure labels Green’s display at the address “a breach of proper conduct.”

Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) backed the censure effort shortly after Trump’s speech.

Based on Wednesday’s vote, and barring any absences or last-minute flips, the resolution is expected to clear the chamber Thursday. It would make Green the 28th member of the House to have been censured. A House censure does not carry any serious repercussions, but is viewed as a permanent stain on the lawmaker’s record. The punishment has become more common in recent years.

Green began his protest minutes into Trump’s speech on Tuesday, as the president was discussing the “mandate” he was given by voters during the November elections. Green stood up, raised his cane in the air and argued that Trump did not have a mandate at all.

At one point, he said the president did not have a mandate to cut Medicaid, which has emerged as a hot-button issue on Capitol Hill as some Republicans eye slashes to the social safety net program as part of their border, energy and tax cuts bill. Republicans responded to Green’s protest with chants of “USA.”

Johnson, who was seated next to Vice President Vance on the dais, gave Green a warning, urging him to “take your seat.” But Green continued shouting, leading Johnson to order the sergeant-at-arms to remove him from the chamber.

Republicans broke out singing “hey, hey, hey, goodbye,” as Green was escorted off the House floor.

Green’s display prompted widespread criticism, mainly among Republicans but from some Democrats as well. Johnson called his behavior “absolutely shameful,” and Sen. Chris Coons (D-Del.) said his protest was “counterproductive” and “went beyond decorum.”

House Democratic leaders, however, have stopped short of condemning Green’s behavior. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.) defended the conduct of the “majority” of his caucus, declining to comment on the lawmakers who engaged in protests. House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.), meanwhile, told reporters “I really don’t want to hear about decorum,” deflecting to parts of Trump’s speech.

Green, for his part, has defended his conduct. The Texas Democrat told reporters his display was “worth it.”

“This is about the people who are being punished by virtue of losing their health care,” Green said. “This is the richest country in the world, and we have people who don’t have good health care.”

Republicans raced to spearhead the effort to censure Green on Wednesday. After vowing on Tuesday night to censure any Democrat who disrupted the president’s speech, the conservative House Freedom Caucus said it would introduce a censure resolution led by Rep. Eli Crane (R-Ariz.).

Rep. Troy Nehls (R-Texas) also introduced a censure resolution on Wednesday that said Green “willfully disrupted the joint session, remained defiant, and was subsequently removed” from the chamber. It also said he violated decorum. The resolution has more than 20 co-sponsors.

In the end, however, Johnson decided to go with Newhouse’s censure resolution. Newhouse, a more moderate lawmaker, is one of the two remaining House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump following the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol.

Johnson told a NOTUS reporter he would move forward with Newhouse’s resolution because “I believe this is the first one out of the gate.”

Newhouse, for his part, swatted down the idea that he introduced the censure resolution to improve his relationship with Trump.

“I don’t see how that would work at all,” Newhouse said. “This is about the House of Representatives, Congress and respecting the rules of decorum that we have.”

Mike Lillis and Emily Brooks contributed.