Al Green Gets Censured, Republicans Melt Down Over a Protest Song

If there’s one thing Congress loves more than pretending to work, it’s staging outrage over selective breaches of decorum. The House of Representatives spent March 6, 2025, engaging in their favorite pastime—policing behavior they’ve ignored when it suited them.

This time, the target was Al Green, a 77-year-old Democrat from Texas who committed the unforgivable crime of yelling at President Donald Trump during his speech to a joint session of Congress. Green, an outspoken critic of Trump’s efforts to gut Medicaid, stood up mid-address, raised his cane, and called out the president’s claims of a mandate. House Speaker Mike Johnson, acting like an assistant manager trying to de-escalate a Black Friday brawl at Best Buy, demanded Green sit down. When Green refused, Johnson ordered the sergeant-at-arms to haul him out.

That was Tuesday night. By Thursday morning, Republicans—having suddenly discovered their deep commitment to professionalism—voted to censure Green, making him the 28th lawmaker in U.S. history to be formally rebuked.

Then things got loud.

The Aftermath: A Protest in the Well, Republicans Throw a Fit

Green was required to stand in the well of the House chamber while his punishment was read aloud, a moment meant to serve as a public shaming. Instead, Democrats gathered around him and started singing “We Shall Overcome.” Republicans, unable to handle a protest song without losing their minds, began screaming for order like churchgoers who just realized the hymn book had been swapped with death metal lyrics.

Rep. Ayanna Pressley yelled back, “Shame on you!” Rep. Rashida Tlaib jumped in too. House Freedom Caucus members started foaming at the mouth, and Johnson—realizing that he had zero control of the room—called a recess just to clear the floor.

For a party that spent years defending Marjorie Taylor Greene heckling Joe Biden mid-speech, Republican outrage over decorum is about as convincing as a toddler claiming they don’t know who drew on the walls. Marjorie Greene screamed at Biden in two different addresses, Lauren Boebert did it too, and no one in the GOP blinked. But when Al Green yells at Trump? Suddenly, the sanctity of the chamber is under attack.

House Freedom Caucus Wants More Blood

Censure isn’t enough for some Republicans, who are now pushing to strip Green of his committee assignments. Rep. Andy Ogles of Tennessee is drafting a resolution to remove not only Green but every Democrat who joined the protest in the well. Expect that to become another manufactured crisis next week.

The 10 Democrats Who Played Along

Not everyone in Green’s party had his back. Ten House Democrats broke ranks and voted for censure, most of them centrists from competitive districts:

• Ami Bera (CA)

• Ed Case (HI)

• Jim Costa (CA)

• Laura Gillen (NY)

• Jim Himes (CT)

• Chrissy Houlahan (PA)

• Marcy Kaptur (OH)

• Jared Moskowitz (FL)

• Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (WA)

• Tom Suozzi (NY)

Jim Himes, defending his vote, said, “I have no love for Donald Trump, but I do have reverence for the Office of the President.” Others reportedly felt Green’s protest was a distraction from Trump’s agenda, like his plan to dismantle the Department of Education—an issue that has been buried under all this manufactured outrage.

Green: “I Would Do It Again”

If Republicans were hoping to break Green’s spirit, they failed. He took the censure like a badge of honor, calling his protest an act of ‘righteous incivility’ and saying he had no regrets.

"The president indicated that he had a mandate. I said to the president, ‘You do not have a mandate to cut Medicaid.’ I would do it again."

That sums up the whole situation: Republicans wanted a spectacle, Democrats gave them one, and the actual policy debate—the gutting of Medicaid—got lost in the noise.

So, what’s next? More punitive measures against Green? More fake outrage? A new round of televised tantrums? The House isn’t solving any real problems, but they sure know how to keep cable news busy.

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