(José Niño, Headline USA) When Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was censured on the House floor this Thursday, his Democratic colleagues gathered around him to sing in protest of the vote.
Democratic members started singing “We Shall Overcome”, a civil rights anthem, after Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., read the censure. This House floor disturbance prompted Johnson to gavel the House into recess.
Rep. Nancy Mace, R-S.C., observed, “Due to inclement, weird behavior from the Left, we had to pause the censure of Rep. Al Green.”
Green was censured for his disruptive protest during President Trump’s address to Congress this past Tuesday. In that incident, Green stood up and shouted at Trump during the speech.
He waved his black cane in Trump’s direction and refused to take his seat when Speaker Johnson ordered him to do so. Green loudly interrupted the president, asserting Trump does not have a mandate to slash Medicaid funding.
Despite warnings from Speaker Johnson for Green to stop and maintain decorum, Green continued his disruptive protest and was eventually removed from the chamber.
The House approved the resolution by a 224-198-2 vote, with 10 Democrats joining Republicans to censure Green.
As Johnson began reading the resolution, Green was joined by other Democratic elected officials from the Congressional Black Caucus and other coalitions to sing “We Shall Overcome,” which caused a scene on the House floor.
On two occasions, Johnson called for order, but the group of Democrat lawmakers continued singing.
After the censure vote took place, Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., revealed his plans to put forward resolutions to strip lawmakers who were singing on the House floor of their committee assignments.
“Today, a group of House Democrats broke decorum during the censure of Rep. Al Green and, after multiple warnings, refused to heed @SpeakerJohnson’s order,” Ogles stated in a post on X. “I am drafting privileged resolutions to remove each of them from their committees. If you want to act like a child in the Halls of Congress, you will be treated like a child.”
Further, the House Freedom Caucus is crafting a resolution to strip Green from his committees.
“We expect @SpeakerJohnson to bring it to the House floor for a vote next week,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) declared in a statement. “Green was censured in a bipartisan vote but he needs real consequences to demonstrate that no one gets to disrupt the People’s business in lame attempts to derail President Trump’s agenda.”
Green is the representative of Texas’ 9th congressional district, which he has represented since 2005.
José Niño is the deputy editor of Headline USA. Follow him at x.com/JoseAlNino
