SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Rep. Al Green (D-TX) shouts out as U.S. President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol on March 04, 2025 in Washington, D.C.
(Photo: Win McNamee/Getty Images)
'Cowardly' and 'Spineless': 10 Dems Join House GOP to Censure Al Green for Disrupting Trump Speech
"Some of these Democrats have more smoke for Rep. Al Green than the man trying to cut Social Security and Medicaid," wrote one critic.
Mar 06, 2025
Ten House Democrats earned rebuke from progressives Thursday for joining with Republicans to censure Rep. Al Green, a Democrat representing Texas, for disrupting U.S. President Donald Trump's speech before Congress earlier this week.
The censure was introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) after Green interrupted Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. During the speech, Green shook his cane at Trump while standing and shouted that the president had "no mandate to cut Medicaid."
The censure vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was 224-198, with two Democratic members voting present, including Green. The 10 Democrats who joined Republicans in favor of the motion were Reps. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Tom Suozzi of New York, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Ami Bera of California, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, and Laura Gillen of New York.
Nina Turner, a former Democratic congressional candidate from Ohio, called them "cowardly."
Prior to the vote, former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) wrote: "Any Democrat who votes in favor of censuring Al Green should be ashamed of themselves. Do not give Republicans one single Democratic vote."
Prior to the censure vote, Axios reported on the reaction to Green's heckling of Trump and other acts of of defiance from Democrats during the speech, quoting several Democratic lawmakers—including Suozzi—who said they didn't approve. Axios also reported that some Democrats hadn't ruled out voting yes on the censure vote.
"Some of these Democrats have more smoke for Rep. Al Green than the man trying to cut Social Security and Medicaid," wrote Turner in response to that reporting.
Qasim Rashid, a human rights lawyer, had this to say about the vote: "Bad enough they don't have the courage to do anything more than hold up a silly sign, but to tear down the one Dem willing to get into Good Trouble to oppose fascism? Spineless." During Trump's address, other Democrats sat through the speech and raised signs with messages such as "Save Medicaid" and "Musk Steals."
The Nation's national affairs correspondent Joan Walsh denounced the 10 Democrats for their vote, but she praised the fact that some Democrats sang "We Shall Overcome," in an act of solidarity with Green, while he stood in the well of the House chamber as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) read him the censure resolution.
She called the whole episode "the worst and the best of the House Democratic caucus."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Ten House Democrats earned rebuke from progressives Thursday for joining with Republicans to censure Rep. Al Green, a Democrat representing Texas, for disrupting U.S. President Donald Trump's speech before Congress earlier this week.
The censure was introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) after Green interrupted Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. During the speech, Green shook his cane at Trump while standing and shouted that the president had "no mandate to cut Medicaid."
The censure vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was 224-198, with two Democratic members voting present, including Green. The 10 Democrats who joined Republicans in favor of the motion were Reps. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Tom Suozzi of New York, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Ami Bera of California, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, and Laura Gillen of New York.
Nina Turner, a former Democratic congressional candidate from Ohio, called them "cowardly."
Prior to the vote, former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) wrote: "Any Democrat who votes in favor of censuring Al Green should be ashamed of themselves. Do not give Republicans one single Democratic vote."
Prior to the censure vote, Axios reported on the reaction to Green's heckling of Trump and other acts of of defiance from Democrats during the speech, quoting several Democratic lawmakers—including Suozzi—who said they didn't approve. Axios also reported that some Democrats hadn't ruled out voting yes on the censure vote.
"Some of these Democrats have more smoke for Rep. Al Green than the man trying to cut Social Security and Medicaid," wrote Turner in response to that reporting.
Qasim Rashid, a human rights lawyer, had this to say about the vote: "Bad enough they don't have the courage to do anything more than hold up a silly sign, but to tear down the one Dem willing to get into Good Trouble to oppose fascism? Spineless." During Trump's address, other Democrats sat through the speech and raised signs with messages such as "Save Medicaid" and "Musk Steals."
The Nation's national affairs correspondent Joan Walsh denounced the 10 Democrats for their vote, but she praised the fact that some Democrats sang "We Shall Overcome," in an act of solidarity with Green, while he stood in the well of the House chamber as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) read him the censure resolution.
She called the whole episode "the worst and the best of the House Democratic caucus."
Ten House Democrats earned rebuke from progressives Thursday for joining with Republicans to censure Rep. Al Green, a Democrat representing Texas, for disrupting U.S. President Donald Trump's speech before Congress earlier this week.
The censure was introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse (R-Wash.) after Green interrupted Trump's address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. During the speech, Green shook his cane at Trump while standing and shouted that the president had "no mandate to cut Medicaid."
The censure vote in the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was 224-198, with two Democratic members voting present, including Green. The 10 Democrats who joined Republicans in favor of the motion were Reps. Jared Moskowitz of Florida, Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington, Tom Suozzi of New York, Marcy Kaptur of Ohio, Jim Himes of Connecticut, Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania, Ami Bera of California, Ed Case of Hawaii, Jim Costa of California, and Laura Gillen of New York.
Nina Turner, a former Democratic congressional candidate from Ohio, called them "cowardly."
Prior to the vote, former Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) wrote: "Any Democrat who votes in favor of censuring Al Green should be ashamed of themselves. Do not give Republicans one single Democratic vote."
Prior to the censure vote, Axios reported on the reaction to Green's heckling of Trump and other acts of of defiance from Democrats during the speech, quoting several Democratic lawmakers—including Suozzi—who said they didn't approve. Axios also reported that some Democrats hadn't ruled out voting yes on the censure vote.
"Some of these Democrats have more smoke for Rep. Al Green than the man trying to cut Social Security and Medicaid," wrote Turner in response to that reporting.
Qasim Rashid, a human rights lawyer, had this to say about the vote: "Bad enough they don't have the courage to do anything more than hold up a silly sign, but to tear down the one Dem willing to get into Good Trouble to oppose fascism? Spineless." During Trump's address, other Democrats sat through the speech and raised signs with messages such as "Save Medicaid" and "Musk Steals."
The Nation's national affairs correspondent Joan Walsh denounced the 10 Democrats for their vote, but she praised the fact that some Democrats sang "We Shall Overcome," in an act of solidarity with Green, while he stood in the well of the House chamber as Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) read him the censure resolution.
She called the whole episode "the worst and the best of the House Democratic caucus."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.