Moderates reveal why they didn’t join fellow Dems to censure Al Green

Two moderate Democrats who voted against censuring Rep. Al Green, D-Texas, suggested they did not believe Congress should be focused on such matters.

Ten Democratic lawmakers broke from their party to vote on a House GOP-led resolution to formally admonish Green for protesting during President Donald Trump’s address to a joint session of Congress on Tuesday night. 

The majority of those 10 are considered frontline Democrats in more moderate districts, while others, like Rep. Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla., are generally known to cross the aisle and work with Republicans.

Fox News Digital reached out to nine other Democrats representing moderate areas, who were part of the 198 total who opposed censuring Green.

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Reps. Jared Golden, left, and Josh Riley, right, told Fox News Digital why they voted against censuring Rep. Al Green, center. (Getty Images/AP)

Of those, just two – Reps. Jared Golden, D-Maine, and Josh Riley, D-N.Y. – offered responses.

“In today’s environment, censure tends only to give a greater platform to the censured legislator. So I tend to lean in favor of free speech unless a clear red line is crossed,” Golden told Fox News Digital.

The Maine Democrat’s written statement also included a link to a reference of his vote in favor of censuring “Squad” member Rep. Rashida Tlaib, D-Mich., over her anti-Israel comments.

He did, however, offer criticism for Green’s interruption of Trump’s speech.

“I voted against censuring Rep. Green because I don’t believe he crossed that line – and I don’t believe it’s in the House’s interest to draw even greater attention to his misguided behavior,” Golden explained.

Rep. Al Green shouts as President Donald Trump addresses a joint session of Congress, Tuesday, March 4, 2025. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

Riley’s statement did not remark directly on Green but more broadly dismissed attention-seekers in Washington.

“Upstate New Yorkers sent me to Congress to lower costs, create jobs, and ensure they get a fair shot. I wish we’d spent this morning focused on that instead of the drama and political theater in Washington,” the first-term House Democrat said.

Riley won his seat in November by unseating former Rep. Marc Molinaro, R-N.Y., in a district that spans much of central New York state.

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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!” 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.

Rep. Al Green is removed from the chamber Tuesday night. (Win McNamee/Pool Photo via AP)

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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.”

The 10 Democrats who voted to censure Green are Reps. Ami Bera, D-Calif.; Ed Case, D-Hawaii; Jim Costa, D-Calif.; Laura Gillen, D-N.Y.; Jim Himes, D-Conn.; Chrissy Houlahan, D-Pa.; Marcy Kaptur, D-Ohio; Jared Moskowitz, D-Fla.; Marie Gluesenkamp Perez, D-Wash.; and Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y.

Green himself voted “present,” as did first-term Rep. Shomari Figures, D-Ala.