House Democrats Sing as Rep. Al Green Is Censured for Disrupting Trump's Speech to Congress

A group of Democrats joined Texas Rep. Al Green in singing "We Shall Overcome" after he was censured on Thursday, March 6, for interrupting President Donald Trump's speech to Congress earlier in the week.

The House voted to censure Green, 77, in a 244-198 split, with 10 Democrats joining Republicans in voting in favor of the motion. Two members of Congress, one of whom was Green, voted present.

The move comes after the Democrat waved his cane and shouted "No mandate!" at Trump during his presidential address on March 4, prompting Green's removal by the House sergeant at arms.

At his disciplinary vote on Thursday — as seen in a video of the moment shared by the The Associated Press — the Texas Congressman sat alone while colleagues voted on whether to reprimand him.

After the vote concluded and the motion was passed, Green was asked to stand in the center of the room while Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. read the censure to him. A number of other Democrats joined him at the front of the House chamber, singing "We Shall Overcome," as Johnson, 53, banged his gavel and Republicans shouted at the group.

When Johnson failed to bring the House to order he called a recess instead.

Prior to the censure vote, the House speaker told reporters, per The Hill, “We take no pleasure in this. I gave repeated warnings to Rep. Green [during Trump's speech] to stand down and to sit down and he refused to do it, he chose to deliberately violate House rules in a manner that we think is probably unprecedented in history, interrupting the message of a president of the United States, who is an honored guest.”

Johnson added, “I think this expeditious vote of censure is an appropriate remedy. Many of our colleagues have argued it should go even further. But I hope that he will acknowledge his mistake.”

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On Tuesday night, Green protested Trump's proposed cuts to Medicaid after the president said in his speech that the American people had given him a "mandate."

Green stood and shook his cane toward Trump as he said the President had "no mandate to cut Medicaid ... no mandate."

Following his removal from the House chamber, which was accompanied by cheers from the Republican Party, the congressman spoke to C-SPAN, saying, "I was making it clear to the president that he has no mandate to cut Medicaid. I have people who are very fearful. These are poor people. And they have only Medicaid in their lives when it comes to their health care."

"I want him to know that his budget calls for deep cuts in Medicaid," Green continued. "He needs to save Medicaid and protect it. We need to raise the cap on Social Security."

At the time, he also said he would accept his punishment for speaking out: "I didn't say to anyone, 'Don't punish me.' I said, 'I'll accept the punishment.' "

What does it mean to censure a congressman?

A censure does not remove a member from Congress, nor does it carry any actionable consequences, such as a removal of rights or privileges. Instead, the House of Representatives website defines a censure as an acknowledgement of its "deep disapproval of Member misconduct that, nevertheless, does not meet the threshold for expulsion."

Green is the 28th member of the House to be censured. Prior to Green, the most recent representatives to stand in the well of the House chamber and receive the public rebuke were Democratic Rep. Jamaal Bowman of New York in December 2023, for pulling a fire alarm when there was no fire, and Democratic Rep. Rashida Tlaib of Michigan, who was censured in November 2023 for comments she made about the Hamas terror attack on Israel.

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Republicans are no strangers to being censured either. In 2021, Arizona Rep. Paul Gosar was reprimanded for posting a violent anime video featuring Democratic Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and then-President Joe Biden.

Additionally, in 2009, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson of South Carolina faced censuring after he shouted "You lie!" during a presidential address by President Barack Obama. No Republican House members were censured for disrupting President Joe Biden's presidential addresses in recent years, despite multiple incidents occurring during his tenure.