Rep. Dan Newhouse calls for ‘decency’ after House approves his resolution rebuking Rep. Al Green for protesting Trump speech

WASHINGTON – Rep. Dan Newhouse, a Republican from Central Washington, introduced the resolution to rebuke a Texas congressman who was removed from the House chamber after repeatedly interrupting President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress earlier in the week.

The House of Representatives voted 224 to 198 on Thursday in support of the resolution.

Ten Democrats joined all Republicans to pass a resolution to censure Rep. Al Green, a 77-year-old Democrat from Houston who brandished his cane while shouting at Trump, “You don’t have a mandate to cut Medicaid,” as the president boasted about his election victory. Newhouse, a Republican from Sunnyside who called for “respect for each other and respect for the responsibility that each one of us has been given.”

“These are the building blocks, the most important facets of our system, that truly separate us – the United States of America – from the rest of the world,” Newhouse said on Wednesday. “Checking our emotion, checking our energy, checking our rhetoric and prioritizing decency between each other sends the message – not only to our colleagues, but to the rest of the country and to the rest of the world – that we are working for the people and not against each other.”

Over his decade in Congress, Newhouse has built a reputation as a staunch conservative – on issues like taxation, abortion and gun regulations – who nevertheless has good relationships with many Democrats. His commitment to civility led him to vote in January 2021 to impeach Trump for inciting the Capitol riot. Of the 10 House Republicans who voted for impeachment, Newhouse is one of just two who remain in Congress.

Rep. Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, who represents southwestern Washington, was among the 10 House Democrats who voted to censure Green on Thursday. In a statement posted on X, she described her decision as a straightforward one.

“When you knowingly break House rules, as Rep. Green did, it shouldn’t be surprising to face consequences,” she wrote on the social media platform. “Congress should respect the co-equal office of the Presidency, regardless of who holds the job, do our constitutional duty, and stop with the theatrics at these events.”

Trump’s joint address on Tuesday was a raucous scene, with Republicans jumping in the air, pumping their fists and whooping as the president touted his administration’s actions in a nearly 100-minute speech that resembled a campaign rally. Democrats, meanwhile, held small signs and shouted their objections throughout the televised event.

High-profile GOP lawmakers like Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia – who wore a pro-Trump hat during the address, in violation of House rules – had taken to interrupting State of the Union addresses delivered by former President Joe Biden, but Tuesday’s spectacle was unlike any speech delivered to a joint session of the House and Senate. Unlike past interrupters, Green, the Texas congressman, refused to sit down or stop shouting and was eventually removed by security at the direction of House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La.

“We must maintain a standard in the House of Representatives, and any member’s refusal to adhere to the speaker’s direction to cease such behavior – regardless of their political party, regardless of who’s at the lectern giving a speech – this has to and must continue to be reprimanded,” Newhouse said on Wednesday. “We cannot afford to let it go by. Mr. Speaker, we can do better. Mr. Speaker, we must do better – for ourselves, for the institution and for the people that sent us here.”