House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., said Tuesday night that Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, deserves to be censured for his "absolutely shameful" disruptions during President Donald Trump's speech to a joint session of Congress.
"He should be censured," Johnson told The Hill shortly after Trump's speech ended. "It's a spectacle that was not necessary. He's made history in a terrible way, and I hope he enjoys it."
A resolution to censure Green is expected, as the board of the conservative House Freedom Caucus said before Trump's speech that it would censure any House Democrat who interrupted him.
"The president's address to tonight's joint session of Congress is a constitutional obligation — not a sideshow for Democrats to use noisemakers, make threats, throw things or otherwise disrupt. Our colleagues are on notice that the heckler's veto will not be tolerated," the group said in a statement. "You will be censured. We expect the Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police to take appropriate action against any members of Congress or other persons violating House rules."
Green was removed from the House chamber after shouting at the president while he was speaking about the mandate the voters gave him with his win in November. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., had urged members of his party to avoid disrupting the event.
When Green continued to shout, Johnson hit his gavel and said that representatives were "directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House and to cease any further disruptions. That's your warning."
Green is the congressman who called for Trump's impeachment shortly after he was sworn in. "If they want to make a 77-year-old heckling Congressman the face of their resistance, if that's the Democrat party, so be it," Johnson said after the speech. "We will not tolerate it on the House floor."
He added that he was "quite certain" that there are "many" Republicans in the House who would seek a resolution to censure Green and said he would "absolutely" bring the measure to the floor to be considered.
Green told reporters after he was ejected that it was "worth it to let people know that there are some people who are going to stand up" to Trump.
There were some Democrats who also criticized Green's protests, including Sen. Chris Coons, D-Del., who said his actions were "counterproductive."
"I think to stand up and say, you know, he doesn't have a mandate to cut Medicare, fine, but I think he — I think it — went beyond decorum," Coons commented.
Sandy Fitzgerald ✉
Sandy Fitzgerald has more than three decades in journalism and serves as a general assignment writer for Newsmax covering news, media, and politics.
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