Month: March 2025

The House voted on Thursday to censure Rep. Al Green (D-Texas) for protesting and disrupting President Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday, which prompted his removal from the House chamber. The censure resolution dubbed Green’s display “a breach of proper conduct.”

In a 224-198 vote with two members voting present (one of them being Green), the House approved a censure resolution against Green; 10 Democrats joined all Republicans in favor of the move.

Green spoke on the House floor Wednesday to explain his outburst, acknowledging that he spoke out “with intentionality ..The president indicated that he had a mandate. I said to the president you do not have the mandate to cut Medicaid. I have constituents who need Medicaid. They will suffer and some will die if they don’t get Medicaid. I think that on some questions, questions of conscience, you have to be willing to suffer the consequences.”

Per CBS News, Green is the 28th lawmaker in U.S. history to be censured by the House. After the vote, Green was ordered to stand in the well of the chamber while the resolution was read aloud by Speaker Mike Johnson. Green and other Democrats supporting him gathered around him as they sang “We Shall Overcome” — which prompted the Republican side to yell “order.”

Censure is essentially a formal rebuke by the House for some form of misconduct. The punishment usually requires the censured member to stand in front of the dais in the House chamber while the resolution is read by the presiding member. It does not remove the member from office or impose any other penalties, beyond the reputational damage and historical notoriety that accompanies it.

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On Thursday, President Trump said he will issue an exemption on tariffs of. most U.S. imports from Mexico that are covered under a 2020 trade agreement, delaying levies imposed on the nation earlier this week. Trump announced after speaking with Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum that Mexico will be exempt from tariffs on goods covered by the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) trade treaty until April 2; the tariffs would take effect when it expires.

Mr. Trump shared the news in a social media post on Truth Social after his call with President Sheinbaum, referring to the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement: “After speaking with President Claudia Sheinbaum of Mexico, I have agreed that Mexico will not be required to pay Tariffs on anything that falls under the USMCA Agreement. This Agreement is until April 2nd. I did this as an accommodation, and out of respect for, President Sheinbaum. Our relationship has been a very good one, and we are working hard, together, on the Border, both in terms of stopping Illegal Aliens from entering the United States and, likewise, stopping Fentanyl. Thank you to President Sheinbaum for your hard work and cooperation!”

The USMCA allows goods to move between the three countries tariff-free if they follow certain rules. Those rules require that a product be made entirely in North America or be substantially transformed in North America, if it is made of components from other countries. For products like automobiles, 75% of their content must be from North America. The USMCA covers the vast majority of imports from Mexico, and in a press conference Thursday, President Sheinbaum reiterated that nearly all of Mexico’s trade with the U.S. is covered under the USMCA agreement.

Editorial credit: Octavio Hoyos / Shutterstock.com