Speaker Mike Johnson stopped short of supporting a hard-right push to remove Rep. Al Green from his committee assignment over the Texas Democrat’s singing protest following his censure Thursday.
After the House voted to censure Green over his outburst during President Donald Trump’s address to Congress on Tuesday, Green and several other House Democrats sang “We Shall Overcome” in the well of the House, forcing Johnson to recess the House and skip the traditional reading of the reprimand.
House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Harris (R-Md.) subsequently demanded “real consequences” for Green “to demonstrate that no one gets to disrupt the People’s business in lame attempts to derail President Trump’s agenda.” Rep. Andy Ogles (R-Tenn.), a Freedom Caucus member, has filed a resolution that would strip Green and other Democrats who sang of their panel assignments.
Green sits on the House Financial Services Committee, where he is ranking member of its Oversight and Investigations subpanel.
Johnson, asked about the effort in a Fox News interview Friday, said he was talking with members about “consequences” but didn’t commit to any specific plans.
“I talked to Freedom Caucus members and other Republicans who are deeply concerned about this,” Johnson said. “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.”
Johnson also addressed the town hall protests Republican members have faced recently, prompting a top GOP campaign official to advise members to cancel in-person mass meetings with constituents. The speaker said he agreed with that advice.
“We want to do the job, do it well, do it efficiently and effectively, and walking into a staged production like that doesn’t serve anyone’s interest,” he said.
