The U.S. House of Representatives voted Thursday to censure Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, after heckling President Donald Trump at his congressional address Tuesday.
“You don’t have a mandate,” Green said as he interrupted Trump‘s speech to a joint Session of Congress. Green was ordered to be removed by Speaker of the House Mike Johnson.
The resolution to censure, introduced by Rep. Dan Newhouse, R-Wash., noted Green’s words on the floor were “breach of proper conduct.” It passed largely along party lines, with 10 Democrats voting with Republicans in favor of the resolution and two lawmakers voting “present.”
But what does it mean for a lawmaker to be censured, and how common is it? Here is what to know:
More: Graphics show how partisan heckling has become part of the State of the Union
What does it mean to censure someone?
A censure is considered a severe public rebuke of a legislator brought by other members of Congress, a form of punishment second only to expulsion.
The U.S. Constitution allows for Congress to “punish its members for disorderly behavior.” Censure is a formal disapproval intended to discipline members of the house.
The censure is written in the form of a resolution that the house votes on. To pass a censure means that a majority of the members support the criticism included in the resolution.
What happens when a person is censured?
Once the House comes to a majority vote in favor of the resolution, the censured person must stand in the well of the House as the resolution is read aloud, “as a form of public rebuke,” according to the U.S. House of Representatives website.
Who voted to censure Al Green?
The following 10 Democrats voted to censure Al Green.
- Ami Bera of California
- Ed Case of Hawaii
- Jim Costa of California
- Laura Gillen of New York
- James A. Himes of Connecticut
- Chrissy Houlahan of Pennsylvania
- Marcy Kaptur of Ohio
- Jared Moskowitz of Florida
- Marie Gluesenkamp Perez of Washington
- Thomas R. Suozzi of New York
Two Democrats voted “present.” All Republicans who voted did so in favor of the resolution.
Examples of censured senators and representatives
According to the House website, 27 representatives have been censured before Green. The most recent censures are:
- Jamaal Bowman, D-N.Y., censured on Dec. 7, 2023 for pulling a fire alarm in the Cannon House office building in September.
- Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., censured on Nov. 7, 2023 over her remarks on the Israel-Hamas war.
- Adam Schiff, D-Calif., censured on June 21, 2023 for “misleading the American public and for conduct unbecoming of an elected Member of the House of Representatives.”
- Paul Gosar, R-Ariz., censured on Nov. 17, 2021 for having “posted a manipulated video on his social media accounts depicting himself killing Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and attacking President Joseph Biden.”
- Charles B. Rangel, D-N.Y., censured on Dec. 2, 2010, the first public rebuke in nearly three decades, for an ethics scandal.
Only nine senators in U.S. history have been censured. The most recent was nearly 35 years ago:
- David F. Durenberger, R-Minn., denounced on July 25, 1990 for “unethical conduct in personal business dealings, Senate reimbursements, and using campaign contributions for personal use.”
What other methods are used to discipline house members?
Members can also be expelled or reprimanded.
In the House, censure is the second-most severe form of punishment. The most severe is expulsion, which requires a two-thirds vote. Reprimand is less severe than censure.
Contributing: Sudiksha Kochi, Marina Pitofsky
Kinsey Crowley is a trending news reporter at USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected], and follow her on X and TikTok @kinseycrowley.
