The House voted on Thursday to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for protesting and disrupting President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, which prompted his removal from the House chamber. The censure resolution dubbed Green’s display “a breach of proper conduct.”
In a 224-198 vote with two members voting present (one of them being Green), the House approved a censure resolution against Green; 10 Democrats joined all Republicans in favor of the move.
Green spoke on the House floor Wednesday to explain his outburst, acknowledging that he spoke out “with intentionality ..The president indicated that he had a mandate. I said to the president you do not have the mandate to cut Medicaid. I have constituents who need Medicaid. They will suffer and some will die if they don’t get Medicaid. I think that on some questions, questions of conscience, you have to be willing to suffer the consequences.”
Per CBS News, Green is the 28th lawmaker in U.S. history to be censured by the House. After the vote, Green was ordered to stand in the well of the chamber while the resolution was read aloud by Speaker Mike Johnson. Green and other Democrats supporting him gathered around him as they sang “We Shall Overcome” — which prompted the Republican side to yell “order.”
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. It does not remove the member from office or impose any other penalties, beyond the reputational damage and historical notoriety that accompanies it.
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