Republicans Censure Dem Who Protested Gutting Health Care
Republicans have censured Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) after the congressman protested the GOP’s planned cuts to Medicaid during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress.
The House voted 224-198 to punish Green, with 10 Democrats joining Republicans. Green voted present. The vote comes a day after the House Freedom Caucus, with Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) filing the resolution later that day. The censure is a formal rebuke of Green’s actions, but does not strip him of any privileges as a House member.
Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome” on the House floor after House Speaker Mike Johnson announced that the resolution passed. “This House will come to order,” Johnson responded after banging his gave.
Early in Trump’s address on Tuesday, Johnson ordered the House Sergeant at Arms to remove Green from the chamber after the Democrat stood in the center aisle and heckled the president, shouting, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!” while pointing his cane at Trump. Republicans attempted to shout over Green, leading to a moment of chaos on the floor as the two parties dueled to be louder than each other. Green remained steadfast, prompting Johnson to have him escorted from the chamber. More quiet protests continued from Democrats throughout the speech.
Ahead of Trump’s speech, the Freedom Caucus’s board warned Democrats on social media that “the heckler’s veto will not be tolerated.”
“You will be censured,” they continued. “We expect the Sergeant at Arms and Capitol Police to take appropriate action against any Members of Congress or other persons violating House rules.”
The committee’s post was mocked by some social media users, who noted that Republicans have a long history of violating expected decorum during speeches by Democratic presidents. In 2023, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) shouted “Liar!” during former President Joe Biden’s State of the Union. During the same speech, she and Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) interrupted Biden by chanting “Build the Wall.”
In 2022, Boebert screamed at Biden during the State of the Union as the former president honored service members who died as a result of their exposure to burn pits. Neither were censured, but the Texas representative seems unbothered by the GOP’s threats of punishment.
Congress is currently in the throes of budget negotiations, and the House’s first draft calls for the Energy and Commerce Committee to make over $880 billion in spending cuts over the next decade. The cuts would inevitably need to come from Medicaid, which provides cost-efficient health insurance to over 70 million Americans.
Upon being removed from the chamber, Green told reporters that “it’s worth it to let people know that there are some of us who are going to stand up against this president’s desire to cut Medicaid, Medicare and Social Security.”
“If I broke the rules, then I have to be prepared to suffer the consequences. You don’t break the rules and then demand that you be treated as though nothing ever happened,” Green told Axios in a separate interview on Wednesday. “I did it because Medicaid is so important to my constituents,” he added, “let them bring their sanctions. Bring them on.”
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