Republicans across the spectrum of factions within the House GOP announced their plans to introduce censure resolutions against Rep. Al Green following his removal from President Trump’s joint address.
The hard-line House Freedom Caucus and Reps. Troy Nehls, Texas Republican, and Dan Woodhouse, Washington Republican, said they were all planning to introduce censure resolutions against Mr. Green, Texas Democrat, on Wednesday.
A censure resolution is a formal statement of disapproval that can be passed with a simple majority vote in the House and was a once seldom-used form of punishment until the last session of Congress when three Democratic lawmakers were censured by Republicans.
Mr. Green was removed from the House chamber after he shouted “you have no mandate” at Mr. Trump just minutes into his lengthy speech Tuesday night.
The lawmaker was warned by House Speaker Mike Johnson, Louisiana Republican, to stop. When he didn’t heed the call, Mr. Johnson ordered the House sergeant-at-arms to escort him from the room.
Mr. Green, who previously announced he planned to file articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump, told reporters after his exit that he was protesting proposed cuts to Medicaid.
The Washington Times reached out to Mr. Green for additional comment.
Mr. Trump and House Republican leadership have vowed that Medicaid would not be on the chopping block, but the House GOP’s recently passed budget resolution includes instructions to the House Energy and Commerce Committee, which oversees the program, to find at least $880 billion in savings.
Lawmakers on the panel believe the only way to hit that benchmark is to look for changes to the health care program.
After the address, Mr. Johnson expected a censure resolution to be brought against Mr. Green “to discipline him.”
“We have to do that inside the House,” he said. “We have to maintain decorum.”
Mr. Newhouse was the first to formally introduce his censure resolution on the House floor Wednesday afternoon. The measure decried Mr. Green’s outburst as a “breach of proper conduct.”
Mr. Newhouse’s resolution was privileged, which means the speaker has up to two days to bring it to the House floor for a vote.
However, Mr. Newhouse and Mr. Trump have had a chilly relationship following his vote to impeach the president in 2021. The lawmaker told reporters that his effort was not about rebuilding his relationship with the president, but instead geared toward “respecting the rules of decorum” in the House.
“This is bigger than a particular relationship,” he said. “This is about the House representatives.”
Republicans successfully censured three Democrats during the last session of Congress. Former Rep. Jamaal Bowman was the last to be censured in 2023 for pulling a fire alarm during a pivotal vote to avert a partial government shutdown.
Rep. Rashida Tlaib, Michigan Democrat, and Sen. Adam B. Schiff, California Democrat, were also censured.
If Republicans’ desire to censure Mr. Green is successful, he would not be the first lawmaker to be punished for an outburst during a joint address.
Rep. Joe Wilson, South Carolina Republican, was reprimanded with a resolution of disapproval for shouting “You lie!” at President Obama in 2009.
Both the Freedom Caucus, whose resolution will be led by Rep. Eli Crane, Arizona Republican, and Mr. Nehls were still in the process of drafting their dueling measures against Mr. Green.
The Freedom Caucus’ push for a censure resolution makes good on a promise to go after any Democratic lawmaker who disrupted the president’s Tuesday address.
Prior to the speech, the Freedom Caucus’ leadership board announced it would move to censure any hecklers who interrupted Mr. Trump’s joint address.
“The House Freedom Caucus will be introducing a censure resolution against Rep. Al Green today,” the caucus announced on X on Wednesday.
Any member can trigger a vote on a censure resolution under House rules.
