Green’s outburst came at the start of Trump's speech to Congress and immediately set the tone. The night was already uneasy. Stone-faced Democrats, now the minority party, had been sitting silently on one side of the chamber, rambunctious Republicans on the other.
As Green rose to speak, shaking his walking cane at the president, the Republicans drowned him out with muscular chants of “USA! USA!”
Johnson eyed the situation from his perch on the dais behind Trump, appearing hesitant to interrupt the president’s address. But the speaker was shaking his head and clearly desiring decorum in the chamber. Vice President JD Vance motioned with his thumb to throw Green out.
The speaker issued a warning for order, banging the gavel. “Take your seat, sir!” But the long-serving congressman remained standing. And then Johnson ordered the Sergeant at Arms to restore order by removing Green from the chamber.
Rarely has a lawmaker been so swiftly and severely disciplined for improper behavior.
Johnson said afterward that Green should be censured by the House — among the more severe reprimands his colleagues could mete out.
“He’s made history in a terrible way,” Johnson told reporters afterward.
“If they want to make a 77-year-old heckling congressman the face of their resistance, if that’s the Democrat Party, so be it,” Johnson said. “But we will not tolerate it on the House floor."
