Washington — The House is expected to vote Thursday morning to reprimand Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas for disrupting President Trump during his address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday.
Green suggested in a social media post Thursday morning that the outcome is a foregone conclusion.
“During the 10:00 hour ET, Congressman Al Green will be censured this morning for standing up to President Trump,” Green wrote on X.
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.”
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“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 House Speaker Mike Johnson, who ordered his removal from the chamber during Mr. Trump’s address, the officers who escorted him out 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.”
The resolution says Green’s behavior “was a breach of proper conduct” and calls for him to stand in the well of the House while the resolution is read aloud.
Minutes into Mr. Trump’s speech on Tuesday, Green stood and raised his cane in the president’s direction and shouted. 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.”
Censure is essentially a formal reprimand by the House. In the last two years, three other Democrats — Adam Schiff of California, Rashida Tlaib of Michigan and Jamaal Bowman of New York— have been censured.
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.
