Members of the House voted on Thursday to censure Texas Democratic Representative Al Green for his outbursts during the speech President Donald Trump delivered to Congress.
The effort passed with 224 votes in favor and 198 votes in opposition. Green was one of two members who voted present, while ten fellow Democrats voted in favor of his censure.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, a Republican from Louisiana, called Green down to the well of the House to hear the censure. Green was surrounded by other Democrats on the floor singing the civil rights song “We Shall Overcome,” prompting a shouting match with Republicans.
Green was yelling at Trump and waving his cane at him. Johnson had repeatedly cautioned Green during the speech that he must stop disrupting the commander-in-chief, eventually asking the Sergeant at Arms to remove Green from the chamber after his noncompliance.
There have only been twenty-six House censures in the history of the United States to publicly condemn the conduct of a lawmaker. Johnson said ahead of the vote that he took “no pleasure in making history like this” and voiced hope that Green would “acknowledge his mistake.”
“I want us to maintain the great tradition of this institution,” Johnson remarked. “He chose to deliberately violate House rules in a manner that we think is probably unprecedented in history, interrupting a message of a president of the United States, who is an honored guest.”
Democrats were also seen wearing graphic shirts and waving signs voicing disagreement with Trump, who emphasized his electoral victory and early signs of success for his second term.
