10 Dems vote to censure Green – extremists revolt on House floor

Democrats rallied around Rep. Al Green for disrupting President Donald Trump’s address to Congress this week, breaking into song as if his censure were a pivotal civil rights violation.

Surrounding the Texas Democrat, his colleagues broke out singing the civil rights anthem “We Shall Overcome,” as Speaker Mike Johnson tried to read the resolution Thursday to censure Green for his behavior. The censure vote passed 224-198, with Green and Rep. Shomari Figures (D-Ala.) voting “present.”

Surprisingly, 10 Democrats stood with Republicans to back the measure, clearly getting backlash from the party for not toeing the line.

Reps. Ami Bera (Calif.), Ed Case (Hawaii), Jim Costa (Calif.), Laura Gillen (N.Y.), Marie Gluesenkamp Perez (Wash.), Jim Himes (Conn.), Chrissy Houlahan (Pa.), Marcy Kaptur (Ohio), Jared Moskowitz (Fla.) and Tom Suozzi (N.Y.) voted to censure their colleague.

Johnson told Fox News after the vote that it was “a really sad day for our institution.”

The vote and its aftermath devolved into a spectacle thanks to Democrats who screamed at their GOP colleagues in the chamber and Green taking to the House floor hours later to offer no remorse.

“Mr. Speaker and still I rise,” Green said, “and still I rise a proud, liberated Democrat, unbought, unbossed and unafraid.”

Rep. Andy Ogles posted on X that he is working on a resolution to remove the Democrats who demonstrated with Green from their committees.

Democrats who voted to censure Green justified their decisions.

“I voted to disapprove of Joe Wilson’s actions when he shouted at a different president, and I revere this institution, which I understand is a very unpopular position today,” Rep. Jim Himes told The Hill, adding that, “I think we need to stand up for the things that we believe regardless of which party benefits or loses.”

Frieda Powers

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