The House censured Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) on March 6 for interrupting President Donald Trump’s March 4 address before a joint session of Congress.
Ten Democrats voted in favor of the resolution: Reps. Ami Bera (D-Calif.), Ed Case (D-Hawaii), Jim Costa (D-Calif.), Laura Gillen (D-N.Y.), Jim Himes (D-Conn.), Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Jared Moskowitz (D-Fla.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (D-Wash.), and Tom Suozzi (D-N.Y.).
The resolution, introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.), passed 224–198 with two voting “present.”
Green, who stood up, raised his cane, and repeatedly heckled Trump, was ejected from the House chamber at the direction of House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.).
Following passage of the resolution, Green presented himself in the well of the House chamber to hear Johnson read the censure. He and other Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome.”
Green, who has represented Texas’s 9th Congressional District since 2005, is the 29th member of Congress to be censured.
The congressman’s behavior, stated the two-page resolution, “disrupted the proceedings of the joint address and was a breach of proper conduct.”
On March 5, a Democrat motion to table the resolution was blocked 211–209, with one member voting “present.”
After being escorted out of the House chamber on March 4, Green explained why he interrupted the address.
“I was making it clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid,” he told reporters. “I have people who are very fearful. These are poor people and they have only Medicaid in their lives when it comes to their health care.”
There are criticisms by Democrats and even some Republicans that legislation to enact Trump’s agenda on the border, energy, and taxes could include cuts to Medicaid.
The GOP is looking to pass the legislation through a mechanism called reconciliation, which allows for measures related to taxing, spending, and the national debt to pass with a simple majority in the Senate. They are therefore not subject to the chamber’s 60-vote filibuster threshold, which applies to most bills.
In order for the reconciliation process to be unlocked, both the House and the Senate must pass an identical budget resolution.
The House version instructs the House Energy and Commerce Committee to cut the deficit by $880 billion over a decade.
Critics fear this would likely mean cuts to Medicaid, an entitlement program for the poor. However, Johnson and Trump said there will be no cuts to Medicaid, with Trump saying that the program will only be targeted for waste, fraud, and abuse.
