WASHINGTON ― Lawmakers on Thursday formally reprimanded Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for making a scene during President Donald Trump’s speech at the Capitol this week.
The House of Representatives adopted a censure resolution by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) chiding Green for his “breach of proper conduct” at Tuesday’s presidential address.
Ten Democrats joined all Republicans in supporting the resolution, with two Democrats voting “present.”
“The gentleman from Texas, Mr. Green, performed one of the most shameful acts that I’ve seen on this floor,” Newhouse said on the House floor Wednesday. “Regardless of who is at the lectern giving a speech, this has to and must continue to be reprimanded. We cannot afford to let it go.”
Newhouse is one of only two remaining Republicans who voted to impeach Trump in his first term for sending a violent mob to ransack the Capitol ― the worst breach of decorum of all time, but one members of the Republican Party like to pretend didn’t happen the way it did. Newhouse denied he was using the resolution to improve his standing in Trump world.
Green interrupted Trump’s speech on Tuesday night by standing, pointing his cane at the president, and declaring he had “no mandate” to cut Medicaid, as Republicans have proposed to do in a budget previously adopted by the House. He continued to stand while House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) threatened to have him hauled out by the House sergeant-at-arms.
Green told HuffPost Wednesday he would accept his punishment and that he had no regrets.
Other Democrats mocked the resolution and noted Republicans such as Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) repeatedly heckled former President Joe Biden during his speeches in the House.
“Let’s stop clutching our pearls,” Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Md.) said. “There’s been lots of heckling over on that side of the aisle. I saw the gentlelady from Georgia heckle the last president and have a whole heckling section there. We didn’t try to censure them or kick them out of Congress or anything.”
While there have been plenty of presidential hecklers in recent years, Green is the only member who actually had to be escorted out of the House chamber during a presidential address.
Censure doesn’t have a practical impact beyond adding Green to a list of rebuked lawmakers that in recent years has expanded to include Reps. Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) and former Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) and Adam Schiff (D-Calif.).
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Rep. Ami Bera (D-Calif.) was one of the 10 Democrats who voted for the Green censure resolution.
“It is my belief that the caucus cannot be a distraction,” Bera told HuffPost. “The focus has to be on what Trump’s doing, how he’s dismantling government, what he’s doing weakening us around the world, what he’s doing sounds like he’s going to try to shut down the Department of Education, so we cannot be a distraction. We’ve got to keep the focus on him.”