House Speaker Mike Johnson said his GOP majority is likely to censure Democratic Rep. Al Green for disrupting President Trump’s joint address to Congress.
Mr. Green, Texas Democrat, stood up during the first few minutes of the address Tuesday night and shook his cane at the president in response to Mr. Trump declaring he has a mandate from voters to carry out his agenda.
“You have no mandate,” Mr. Green shouted.
His attempts to disrupt the president prompted warnings from Mr. Johnson and when he did not relent, the speaker had the House sergeant-at-arms remove Mr. Green from the chamber.
Mr. Johnson said on Fox News after the speech that he would not tolerate such “shameful” behavior on the House floor, noting Mr. Green’s attacks on the president violate the body’s rules on decorum.
“I suspect that there’ll be a censure resolution brought on the floor to discipline him,” the speaker said. “We have to do that inside the House. We have to maintain decorum.”
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COVERAGE: President Trump addresses joint session of Congress
Any member can trigger a vote on a censure resolution under House rules. The House Freedom Caucus warned in a statement ahead of the president’s address that they would move to censure any hecklers.
Mr. Green told reporters he would not fight any effort to punish him.
“I’m willing to suffer whatever punishment is available to me,” he said. “It’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up to this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.”
The congressman said his goal was to make clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid, as Democrats say House Republicans’ budget plan for enacting Mr. Trump’s agenda tees up, and other safety net programs that his constituents depend on.
“This president seems to care less about them and more about the number of people that he can remove from the various programs that have been so helpful for so many people,” he said.
Asked if yelling at Mr. Trump is the best way to deliver that message, Mr. Green said, “It is the best way to get it across to a person who uses his incivility against our civility.”
Mr. Green said he is still planning to file articles of impeachment against Mr. Trump, as he first announced last month.
“This president is unfit,” he said.
Mr. Johnson was unimpressed not only by Mr. Green’s lack of decorum but his representation of the Democratic opposition.
“If they’re going to use a 77-year-old heckling congressman as the face of their resistance, then bring it on,” he said.
• Alex Miller contributed to this report.
