The House of Representatives voted Thursday to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for his unapologetic outburst during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress, marking a formal rebuke of the Houston lawmaker’s conduct in a 224-198, mostly party-line decision.
The move, led by Republicans, underscores rising tensions in a chamber where decorum has increasingly given way to boisterous displays.
The incident unfolded Tuesday night when Green, 77, stood and shouted at Trump just minutes into the president’s speech. As Trump touted the November 5 election as a historic mandate, Green waved his cane and yelled, “You have no mandate!”
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House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) swiftly ordered Green to sit, but after the Democrat refused, Johnson had him removed by the sergeant-at-arms amid Republican chants of “USA! USA!”
Republicans wasted no time, with Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) introducing a censure resolution Wednesday to register the House’s “deep disapproval” of Green’s actions.
The measure passed Thursday, requiring Green to stand in the House well as Johnson or a designee reads the resolution aloud—a rare ritual last seen earlier this decade.
“This resolution is offered in all seriousness, something that I believe we must do in order to get us to the next level of conduct in this hallowed chamber,” Newhouse said on the floor. “It was a necessary, but difficult step.”
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Green remained defiant, telling reporters Wednesday, “What I did was from my heart. People are suffering.” He tied his protest to Trump’s plans to cut Medicaid, a recurring theme in his decade-long tenure marked by prior calls to impeach the president.
Democrats, while not whipping votes against the censure, saw an “overwhelming majority” stay silent or supportive of Green, per House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), though some centrists joined the GOP tally.
The vote reflects a broader trend of raucous behavior during presidential addresses. Past incidents—like Rep. Joe Wilson’s (R-S.C.) “You lie!” shout in 2009 or Democratic walkouts during Trump’s first term—show both parties have tested decorum’s limits.
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Yet Green’s ejection and swift censure signal a GOP intent to clamp down under their new trifecta control, with Johnson wielding the gavel assertively.
The fallout adds to a busy week for House Republicans, who also passed a budget resolution Thursday to pave the way for Trump’s tax cut and debt ceiling plans. For Green, the censure is a symbolic scar but carries no legal weight—leaving him unbowed as the chamber braces for more clashes in Trump’s second term.
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