CNN
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Ten Democrats joined with House Republicans on Thursday to censure Rep. Al Green for his protest during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress this week — a formal condemnation of the Texas Democrat’s actions.
The vote highlights divisions within the Democratic Party over how some members protested the president’s Tuesday night remarks. Locked out of power in Washington, Democrats are searching to find a compelling, unified message to counter Trump and the new administration – a struggle playing out not only on Capitol Hill but across the country.
Divergent tactics were on full display during the president’s speech to Congress, with some Democrats holding signs, walking out of the address or boycotting it altogether, while others took a more muted approach.
House Democratic leadership had urged members not to mount high-profile protests and to show restraint during the address, cautioning such actions could be seized upon by the GOP.
Censure amounts to a significant rebuke of a member of Congress, though it does not carry an explicit penalty beyond a public admonition of a lawmaker and is not as severe as expulsion. Censure, which was once considered rare in the House chamber, has been used more frequently in recent years.
Democrats previously failed to kill the effort. On Thursday, the 10 Democrats who voted with Republicans to censure Green were: Ami Bera of California, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, Laura Gillen of New York, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington and Tom Suozzi of New York.
Three of the Democrats – Kaptur, Suozzi and Gluesenkamp Perez – represent districts that Trump won in November.
Green, 77, disrupted Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night, prompting House Speaker Mike Johnson to remove the Democratic lawmaker from the chamber. Green on Wednesday told reporters he’d “suffer the consequences” of his protest and that he would do it all again.
Johnson earlier Thursday criticized Green’s behavior during the speech as “shameful and egregious,” saying it “disgraced the institution of Congress.”
“He deliberately violated House rules, and an expeditious vote of censure is an appropriate remedy. Any Democrat who is concerned about regaining the trust and respect of the American people should join House Republicans in this effort,” Johnson said in a morning post on X.
This headline and story have been updated with additional developments.
CNN’s Aileen Graef and Morgan Rimmer contributed.
