The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday censured Rep. Al Green for interrupting President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress — leading Green and Democrats to sing in protest on the House floor.
As Green presented himself to the House well, he and more than two dozen Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome” after the House voted 224-198 to censure the Texas Democrat. Ten moderate Democrats joined all Republicans in voting “yes” to the censure, while two, including Green, voted “present.”
“The House will come to order,” House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) said as the Democrats sang and disrupted the censure process and Republicans shouted them down. “Clear the well.”
Johnson then ordered the House to recess until Democrats left the well, allowing him to complete the official censure.
Green drew Republican condemnation after he interrupted the beginning of Trump’s speech Tuesday night, shaking his cane toward him and shouting that the president had “no mandate to cut Medicaid” after Trump said voters gave him a mandate to slash the federal government. Johnson in response kicked Green out from the speech after he refused to sit down and stop interjecting.
The censure has no practical impact — Green will not lose any rights. It is instead a formal way for the House to disapprove of a member’s conduct.
This is the fifth House censure in the last four years — Republican Paul Gosar in 2021, and Democrats Adam Schiff, Rashida Tlaib, and Jamaal Bowman in 2023 were all censured in recent years. Before this surge, the House had censured only six members since 1921.
