House Democrats Who Caused a Spectacle During Al Green Censure Process Now Face Punishment of Their Own

GOP Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee took action Thursday, introducing a measure to hold Democrats accountable for disrupting the public reading of a resolution censuring Rep. Al Green.

Earlier, the House had voted 224 to 198 in favor of censuring Green as a consequence for interrupting President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress on Tuesday.

Ten Democratic lawmakers joined Republicans in supporting the censure resolution, while two Democrats—Green, a Texas representative with two decades in the House, and Rep. Shomari Figures of Alabama, a freshman lawmaker—voted "present."

However, as House Speaker Mike Johnson announced the resolution’s passage, a group of Democratic representatives gathered around Green in the well of the House and began singing “We Shall Overcome” — a well-known anthem from the civil rights era.

Johnson repeatedly attempted to restore order by pounding the gavel, but the Democratic lawmakers persisted in their protest and refused to disperse.

Ultimately, the speaker declared a recess.

As reported by Politico, standard procedure dictates that after a member has been censured, they must stand in the well while the resolution is read aloud. The protest, however, obstructed this process.

Ogles’ resolution proposes that lawmakers who participated in the demonstration be “removed from their committee assignments in light of conduct they exhibited on the floor of the House.”

The resolution directs the House sergeant at arms to compile a list of those involved within a week and mandates their removal from committee assignments for the remainder of the 119th Congress.

“There must be accountability,” Ogles asserted in a post on the social media platform X. “The American people deserve better than petty, juvenile stunts in one of the most sacred chambers of government.”

He continued, “If you want to act like a child in the Halls of Congress, you will be treated like a child.”

Ogles, a staunch Trump supporter, didn’t hold back in a conversation with Fox News.

“We have a country to run,” he stated.

“The failed policies of Joe Biden is why they lost the House, why they lost the Senate, why they lost the presidency. They can lick their wounds all day, but they still have to behave on the House floor.”

Fox News reported that Ogles’ resolution could be up for a vote next week.

Green’s censure resulted from his actions during Trump’s Tuesday night address, when he stood up early into the speech and shouted, “You don’t have a mandate!” Despite repeated instructions to sit down, Green continued his outburst from the House floor.

Johnson reminded Green of the decorum expected during the address, but after his continued refusal to comply, the speaker ordered the House sergeant at arms to remove him.