al green – Breaking News Updates

Democratic Rep. Al Green removed after disrupting Trump’s speech

Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, was removed from the House chamber Tuesday night after he disrupted President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress.

Green, who has long pushed to impeach Trump dating to his previous term in office, stood and shook his cane toward the president in the opening minutes of his speech.

Other lawmakers cheered and booed Green, causing further chaos on the House floor as Trump paused. The uproar prompted House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., to read aloud from House rules.

“Members are directed to uphold and maintain decorum in the House and to cease any further disruptions,” Johnson said, an admonishment aimed at Green.

After Green refused to sit and allow Trump to continue, Johnson called for the House sergeant at arms to remove him from the chamber.

“Nah nah nah nah, goodbye,” Republicans chanted as Green was escorted from the room.

Outside the chamber, Green told NBC News that as “a person of conscience,” he believes Trump “has done things that I think we cannot allow to continue.”

“This whole budget that he has is one that is going to cause Medicaid to be cut, and when he said he had a mandate, it triggered something. It really did. Because he doesn’t have a mandate, and he doesn’t have a mandate to cut health care from poor people,” Green said.

The chamber was filled with other signs of protest and pushback.

Members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus wore pink to protest Trump’s policies on women and families. Other Democrats wore blue and yellow ties in support of Ukraine, days after Trump and Vice President JD Vance tangled with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in an unexpectedly hostile Oval Office meeting.

Also visible on some Democratic members: stickers accusing Elon Musk of “stealing Social Security.” Musk, a billionaire whose government efficiency initiative is scrutinizing Social Security finances, has called the program a “Ponzi scheme.”

Some Democrats also held black paddles that read “SAVE MEDICAID,” “PROTECT VETERANS” and “MUSK STEALS.” Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., held a white board that read “THAT’S A LIE.”

A group of House Democrats also took off their jackets and revealed black shirts with writing on the back. Reps. Jasmine Crockett of Texas and Andrea Salinas of Oregon had shirts reading “Resist,” and Rep. Maxwell Frost of Florida had one saying, “No more kings.”

Rep. Sydney Kamlager-Dove, D-Calif., posted on X that she walked out of the speech because she found the president’s remarks “shameful.”

“There’s only so much bulls— a person can tolerate,” she wrote.

House Democratic leaders had urged members during a closed-door party meeting earlier Tuesday to show proper decorum ahead of Trump’s joint address, according to three House Democrats who attended the meeting.

Minority Whip Katherine Clark, D-Mass., specifically asked members not to use “props” to protest the speech, while House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., encouraged members to stay on message and keep the spotlight focused on the people affected by Trump’s policies — not make the story about themselves.

Henry J. Gomez is a senior national political reporter for NBC News

Frank Thorp V is a producer and off-air reporter covering Congress for NBC News, managing coverage of the Senate.

Scott Wong is a senior congressional reporter for NBC News.

NBC Politics

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Graphics show how partisan heckling has become part of the State of the Union

Six minutes into President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress Tuesday, Texas Rep. Al Green, a Democrat, was removed from the House chamber after he interrupted Trump and refused to take his seat.

Green’s removal was the latest in a series of partisan heckling events that have marked recent presidential addresses to Congress.

“You don’t have a mandate,” the Texas representative told Trump shortly after the president started speaking. House Speaker Mike Johnson cited House rules on decorum and warned Green to take his seat before ordering his removal.

Green was escorted out of the chamber as Republicans cheered.

Disagreements during addresses have grown more rancorous since President Barack Obama took office. In 2009, Republican Rep. Joe Wilson, S.C., shouted “You lie!” at Obama during the president’s first address to a joint session of Congress. The House later rebuked Wilson.

Though Obama’s speech was not a State of the Union address, Wilson’s act was a turning point in president-legislator relations.

As politics continue to divide the nation, members of both parties have openly demonstrated their opposition.

2020: Then-House Speaker Nancy Pelosi – on the podium behind President Donald Trump – tore up her copy of Trump’s speech after he finished his State of the Union address on Feb. 4. “It was a manifesto of mistruths,” Pelosi, a Democrat, said later.

2022: Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., heckled Biden during his address on March 1. Boebert shouted “13 of them,” referring to troops killed in Afghanistan. Her comment came as Biden was speaking about veterans who died of cancer connected to battlefield conditions and said his son Beau was one of them.

2023: Green yelled “Liar!” at Biden during the address. Biden responded by arguing with detractors during the address.

With a few exceptions, lawmakers had limited their dissent during addresses to booing or sitting in silence.

SOURCE USA TODAY Network reporting and research; Reuters; Getty Images

When have lawmakers objected during a State of the Union?

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Minutes into President Donald Trump’s joint address to Congress, a disturbance from Democratic Rep. Al Green of Texas resulted in him being escorted out of the chamber by the House Sergeant at Arms.