House votes to censure Rep. Al Green after disruption at Trump’s address to Congress

CV NEWS FEED // The House voted Thursday to censure Texas Democratic Rep. Al Green for disrupting President Donald Trump’s address to Congress, with 10 House Democrats joining all voting Republicans in favor of the resolution.

The censure resolution prompted a protest, with Democrats standing in the chamber to sing “We Shall Overcome.”

The censure follows Green’s removal from the joint session less than 48 hours earlier, after he repeatedly interrupted the president’s speech and waved a cane at him.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-LA, read the censure resolution aloud Thursday, saying, “By its adoption of Rule 189, the House has resolved that Rep. Al Green be censured. That Rep. Al Green forthwith present himself up in the well of the House of Representatives for the pronouncement of censure.” 

As Green stood in the well surrounded by dozens of Democrats, the group sang “We Shall Overcome” in protest. Johnson repeatedly called for order, declaring, “The House will come to order,” before finally calling for a recess when the singing continued.

Green has repeatedly called for Trump’s impeachment, announcing plans to introduce his latest impeachment attempt last month. 

Before Thursday’s vote, Johnson said to reporters, “We take no pleasure in this. I gave repeated warnings to Rep. Green to stand down and to sit down and he refused to do it, he chose to deliberately violate House rules in a manner that we think is probably unprecedented in history, interrupting the message of a president of the United States, who is an honored guest.”

The censure passed with support from 10 Democrats and all Republicans, resulting in a 224-198 vote.

New York Rep. Tom Suozzi, a Democrat, cast his vote in favor of the censure, saying on CNN’s “The Source” Wednesday, “I think it was wrong,” referring to Green’s behavior.

“I’m an old-school, traditional type person. I don’t like it when Republicans interrupt Democratic presidents, and I don’t like it when Democrats interrupt Republican presidents. So I just think it was a boneheaded move,” Suozzi said. 

After the vote, the House Freedom Caucus announced it is filing a resolution to remove Green from his committee assignments, calling for “real consequences” for his “disruptive and disrespectful” behavior. 

Following Trump’s Tuesday address, CatholicVote reported that 76% of speech viewers agreed with Johnson’s decision to remove Green from the chamber after his repeated interruptions.