By Jacob Adams, The Daily Signal | March 06, 2025
Americans witnessed an unprecedented display of incivility during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night when Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, had to be physically removed from the House chamber after disrupting the president’s speech.
Now, the Houston-area congressman has been censured by his colleagues, on a vote of 224-to-198.
Ten Democrats joined with House Republicans on Thursday to censure Green for his violation of House rules, and the House Freedom Caucus announced a bill to strip Green of his committee assignments. The House censure is a formal condemnation by the legislative body, but it does not revoke privileges from Green.
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House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., told The Daily Signal and other conservative social media influencers that Green was “belligerent” and “so disrespectful.” No Republicans had to be removed by the sergeant-at-arms during then-President Joe Biden’s address in 2021 or his subsequent State of the Union addresses.
Green, 77, repeatedly shook his cane at Trump before being removed from the House chamber.
“He needed to be censured,” Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., chairman of the conservative House Freedom Caucus, told The Daily Signal.
“A group of us think it needs to go further than that. I believe we’re going to file, the Freedom Caucus will file a bill, I think today or tomorrow that will actually strip him of committees,” Harris explained.
Green’s actions generated significant media coverage, and some members of Congress said they were a distraction from the real work of fixing the country’s problems.
“So, he got, unfortunately, his time in front of the cameras on Tuesday, and he then grabs some more time in front of the cameras today. But I think we really need to have, we need to have real penalties for this kind of abuse, and that’s why I think he needs to be stripped of all of his committees,” Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told The Daily Signal.
“The other thing is that I just want to get this done and move on to save the country,” Burlison said.
“You know, the voters send their person. I might not agree with them. Doesn’t matter whether I like them or not. That’s not the point. I think the bigger point is, look, Rep. Green had an opportunity to voice his opposition, and that’s fine, but there’s a time and a place and a way to do that,” Rep. Scott Perry, R-Pa., told The Daily Signal.
“Quite honestly, I think there are much more important things that we should be doing, but we’re not going to be able to do those important things if we’re going to, you know, have these petty antics that really are meant to just sensationalize. I guess one individual wants to go out and raise money or something,” Perry said.
“I don’t think it [the House censure] went nearly far enough, because, as you probably heard on the House floor just a few minutes ago, that he said he would do it again. So, I think there needs to be some stronger consequences for his actions, because not only were they deliberate, but he defied the speaker when the speaker told him multiple times to sit down,” Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., told The Daily Signal
“This has to do with the House and the decorum of the House and the rules of the House, where we govern and do so respectfully. We may disagree, absolutely, as is absolutely common and expected, but that’s not the way that the House is to operate.” Clyde explained.
Green has represented the 9th Congressional District of Texas, which encompasses the southwestern portion of the greater Houston area, since 2005. The district is deep blue, and Green did not have a Republican challenger during the 2024 general election.
Jacob Adams is a journalism fellow at The Daily Signal.
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