FIRST ON FOX: The House Freedom Caucus could force a vote on a bill to strip Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, of his committee assignments if Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., does not announce a punishment for the Democrat that conservatives see as sufficient.
“He will see what he deems appropriate, and then if that’s adequate, that’s fine,” House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris, D-Md., told Fox News Digital. “If not, then we likely will file our privileged resolution to strip him of his committees.”
Freedom Caucus members told Fox News Digital that the group was in touch with Johnson’s office about the issue.
The conservative caucus threatened to file a resolution to remove Green from all committees last week after his disruption during President Donald Trump’s speech to Congress.
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House Freedom Caucus Chairman Andy Harris is pressing Speaker Mike Johnson to further punish Rep. Al Green for speaking out during Trump’s speech (Reuters/Getty)
The protest got the Texas Democrat thrown out of the House chamber minutes after the address began.
“We’re gonna ask what Mike Johnson wants to do moving forward. We talked about a lot of things, but different people had different thoughts. But I guess what weighed on our minds is, he said he’s going to do it again,” Rep. Ralph Norman, R-S.C., told Fox News Digital. “My one thing, that kind of action needs consequences.”
Rep. Andrew Clyde, R-Ga., said, “There’s all sorts of options, and I don’t think any of them have been decided upon yet.”
Green was censured in a 224 to 198 vote on Thursday morning after repeatedly disrupting the beginning of Trump’s primetime speech.
He shouted, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid!” at Trump and shook his cane in the air as the president touted Republican victories in the House, Senate and White House. Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., after giving a warning, had Green removed from the chamber
The 77-year-old Democrat was unrepentant, posting on X on Thursday afternoon, “Today, the House GOP censured me for speaking out for the American people against [Trump’s] plan to cut Medicaid. I accept the consequences of my actions, but I refuse to stay silent in the face of injustice.”
President Donald Trump during a joint session of Congress at the Capitol in Washington, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (AP Photo/Ben Curtis) (AP Photo/Ben Curtis)
But members of the House Freedom Caucus want to go further, floating everything from fining Green to making good on their resolution threat.
Rep. Eric Burlison, R-Mo., told Fox News Digital he didn’t want to give the Green issue “any more oxygen” but suggested a suitable punishment would be stripping the Texas lawmaker of any seniority privileges.
“No seniority on offices, no seniority on parking spots, on committees – all of that,” Burlison described.
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Meanwhile, Green’s House Democratic allies briefly plunged the House floor into chaos after the censure vote. They crowded Green as he stood ready for Johnson to read out the censure, another formal part of the process, and sang “We shall overcome.”
Johnson was forced to pause House floor proceedings after trying and failing multiple times to call the Democrats to order.,
Rep. Andy Ogles, R-Tenn., another Freedom Caucus member, filed a resolution in response to strip all the offending Democrats from their committees.
Harris and Clyde signaled the current discussions with leadership were focused on Green alone, however.
U.S. Rep. Al Green (D-TX) is removed from the chamber as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress at the U.S. Capitol (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Image)
“No one [else] waved a cane at the president and didn’t accept…having a censure resolution read without interruption,” Harris said.
Clyde added, “And nobody else had to be thrown out.”
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Johnson, for his part, confirmed in an interview on Fox News on Friday that he was in talks with the House Freedom Caucus on a punishment for Green.
“I talked to Freedom Caucus members and other Republicans who are deeply concerned about this,” Johnson told “Outnumbered.” “They say we have to restore control one way or the other and there need to be real consequences, and it’s something that we’ll be looking at early next week.”
Green currently serves on the House Financial Services Committee, where he is the top Democrat on the subcommittee for oversight.
Fox News Digital reached out to representatives for Johnson and Green for comment but did not immediately hear back.