Democrats Fracture as 10 Join GOP to Censure Rep. Al Green Over Trump Speech Disruption

Ten Democrats teamed up with House Republicans on Thursday in a vote to censure Rep. Al Green for his protest during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress earlier this week.

Green was ejected from the House chamber on Tuesday after disrupting the address. Green stood and roared, “You have no mandate!” at the Republican president after Trump stated the Nov. 5 election had delivered a governing mandate not seen for many decades.

The censure resolution passed 224-198, with 10 Democrats breaking ranks to back the measure alongside Republicans. Meanwhile, Mr. Green and Representative Shomari Figures, a freshman Democrat from Alabama, opted to stay on the sidelines, casting “present” votes.

The 10 Democrats who sided with Republicans to censure Green included Ami Bera (California), Ed Case (Hawaii), Jim Costa (California), Laura Gillen (New York), Jim Himes (Connecticut), Chrissy Houlahan (Pennsylvania), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Jared Moskowitz (Florida), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Washington) and Tom Suozzi (New York).

Green and several other Democrats surrounding him began singing the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome,” leading to yells calling for “order” from the Republican side.

“I don’t mind being one of 10 Democrats who said, no, there’s a deeper principle at stake here, which is reverence for this institution,” U.S. Rep. Jim Himes said after the vote, adding that lawmakers need to act “with the decorum and with the civility that says to the world that we are a serious country.”

Green defended his actions, declaring his protest over the GOP’s attack on Medicaid.

The national Medicaid program currently provides health services to more than 72 million Americans, with more than 7.2 million children enrolled in the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“I have no ill feelings toward the speaker, none toward the persons that escorted me away from the floor, because I did disrupt. And I did so because the president indicated that he had a mandate. And I wanted him to know that he didn’t have a mandate to cut Medicaid,” Green said Thursday in a speech on the House floor.