Republicans move to censure Democrat Al Green after he disrupted Trump’s address
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(WASHINGTON) — House Republicans are moving to censure Democratic Rep. Al Green after his disruptions during President Donald Trump’s speech to a joint session of Congress Tuesday night.
By Wednesday morning, several members of the GOP conference have been circulating different resolutions to censure Green, who was ejected from the House chamber on Tuesday night after interrupting Trump’s remarks multiple times.
Republican Rep. Dan Newhouse was the first to formally introduce a resolution on the House floor on Wednesday. His measure was introduced as privileged, meaning the House must take it up within two legislative days.
“Decorum and order are the institutional grounds for the way we do business in the United States Congress, and the sheer disregard for that standard during President Trump’s address by the gentleman from Texas is unacceptable,” Newhouse said in a statement. “A Member’s refusal to adhere to the Speaker’s direction to cease such behavior, regardless of their party, has and will continue to be reprimanded in the people’s House.”
The House Freedom Caucus also said on Wednesday that it plans to introduce a censure resolution against Green.
Green’s outburst happened within minutes of Trump’s address, when the president called his electoral victory a “mandate.”
Green, an 11-term Democrat representing the Houston area, stood up and pointed his cane as he shouted, “You have no mandate to cut Medicaid.”
Speaker Mike Johnson slammed his gavel and gave a warning to lawmakers assembled to maintain decorum, telling Green several times to take his seat. As Green continued to protest, Johnson called for him to be removed.
Johnson said after Trump’s address that Green should be censured and that he would “absolutely” put a resolution on the floor after its introduction. He told reporters, “it’s a spectacle that was not necessary. He’s made history in a terrible way. And I hope he enjoys it.”
On “Good Morning America” on Wednesday morning, Johnson also defended his decision to have Green removed.
“Al Green was trying to interrupt the entire proceeding. But look, I’ll just say this. If the Democrats want a 77-year-old congressman to be the face of their resistance, heckling the president, then bring it on,” he said.
Green told ABC News late Tuesday night he’d accept any “punishment” from his heckling as he was “following the wishes of conscience.”
“There are times when it it better to stand alone than not stand at all,” Green said.
“At some point, we’re all going to have to stand up,” he added.
(LOS ANGELES) — As the Eaton Fire ravaged part of Los Angeles, Galen Buckwalter said he had no choice but to ride his wheelchair through the dark roads of his Sierra Madre neighborhood — after the city was left without power.
The streets were sprinkled with branches and debris, the wind howling and thick clouds of smoke approaching behind him, he said, but he tried to remain calm and focused with just one goal in mind: make it out of the evacuation zone.
Buckwalter, who’s 68 and quadriplegic, relies on his powerchair to move around and be independent. He has a customized van, outfitted to load and fit his wheelchair, but on the day he needed to evacuate the van was getting repaired at a shop nearby.
The Eaton Fire that began on Jan. 7, north of Pasadena, destroyed or damaged more than 10,000 structures, burned through 14,000 acres, and took the lives of 28 people, including several who had disabilities or mobility issues.
“It was gutting to read that,” Buckwalter told ABC News. “I can’t imagine what their final moments were like, and to personalize that — what would it have been like if, say, my powerchair failed? Or if I wasn’t able to evacuate at all?”
More likely to be left behind
According to the United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs, the death rate among people with disabilities during disasters tends to be two to four times higher than among the general population.
People with disabilities are more likely to be left behind in emergency responses, the group said. For Buckwalter, the Eaton Fire brought to light the vast differences between disabled and non-disabled individuals face during a disaster.
“When anyone is disaster-planning, you focus on things like your support network, what your evacuation plan is, food, clothing or shoes,” said TJ Hill, executive director of the Disability Community Resource Center in Los Angeles. “But people with disabilities have additional things to be considered, such as their transportation needs and alternatives, or medication-planning.”
Buckwalter’s wife and primary caregiver, Deborah Buckwalter, 72, said she had much to consider when packing their “go bag.” She needed to make sure her husband had medications and bowel management devices, she said.
Most importantly, with the van in the shop, they had to figure out an alternative method of transportation — to escape.
Buckwalter’s power chair weighs about 400 pounds. he said it’s not something his wife or even two strong people can haul into the trunk of a car.
He thought about ordering an Uber Wav — a wheelchair-accessible vehicle — he said, but no Ubers were allowed in the evacuation zones. Buckwalter is paralyzed from the chest down; if he left his power chair and used a regular wheelchair, he would lose his independence and mobility. At that time, he didn’t even know when he would make it back home.
“I tell people I am a semi-digital human, my chair is a part of me. As for my van, everyone relies on a vehicle in L.A., and I rely on my vehicle,” he said. “Independently evacuating is not possible, that is the nature of disability, that you need assistance.”
(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump said on Friday he spoke to China’s President Xi Jinping about TikTok and other issues as he prepares to take office in a matter of days.
Trump confirmed the call in a post on his social media platform, calling it a “good one” for both nations.
“It is my expectation that we will solve many problems together, and starting immediately,” Trump said. “We discussed balancing Trade, Fentanyl, TikTok, and many other subjects. President Xi and I will do everything possible to make the World more peaceful and safe!”
The call came just before the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a bipartisan law that could see TikTok banned in the U.S. after Jan. 19 unless its Chinese-owned parent company sells the widely popular app.
The Biden administration doesn’t plan to take action to immediately force TikTok go dark, ABC News has reported, instead leaving it to the incoming Trump administration to implement.
Trump, who tried to ban TikTok in his first term, has now promised to save it. He met with TikTok CEO Shou Chew at his Mar-a-Lago club in December, and Chew plans to attend Trump’s inauguration, sources told ABC News.
In addition, Trump had extended an invitation to Xi to attend Monday’s ceremony in Washington. Though experts noted it was unlikely Xi would attend.
But Xi’s special representative, Vice President Han Zheng, will attend, a Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson announced Friday.
“We stand ready to work with the new U.S. government to enhance dialogue and communication, properly manage differences, expand mutually beneficial cooperation, jointly pursue a stable, healthy and sustainable China-U.S. relationship and find the right way for the two countries to get along with each other,” the spokesperson added.
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(MEXICO CITY) — The U.S. has paused the implementation of tariffs for a month in both Canada and Mexico following conversations on Monday with President Donald Trump, according to each country’s leader.
Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a post on social media, writing, “Canada is implementing our $1.3 billion border plan — reinforcing the border with new choppers, technology and personnel, enhanced coordination with our American partners, and increased resources to stop the flow of fentanyl.
Trudeau also added, “Nearly 10,000 frontline personnel are and will be working on protecting the border.” The moves will result in a 30-day delay in the tariffs in order to work out a deal, he said.
The moves mirror similar promises Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum issued earlier in the day after speaking to Trump.
U.S. tariffs imposed on Mexico have been “paused for a month,” Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum said in a post on X Monday shortly after speaking to President Donald Trump. Trump confirmed the news shortly after in a social media post of his own.
Sheinbaum said Mexico has agreed to “reinforce” the Mexico-U.S. border with 10,000 National Guard troops “immediately.” She also said the U.S. had agreed to work to prevent high-powered weapons from being trafficked into Mexico.
Trump did not mention the U.S. working to prevent weapons from being trafficked into Mexico, but confirmed the 10,000 Mexican troops being deployed to the border “to stop the flow of fentanyl, and illegal migrants into our Country.”
Trump said Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and Howard Lutnick, Trump’s yet-to-be-confirmed commerce secretary nominee, will negotiate with Mexican leaders in the next month to achieve a permanent deal.
Sheinbaum, who took over as Mexican president in October 2024, said Trump asked her how long she would like the tariffs on Mexico to be paused, and she responded “forever,” before Trump suggested they pause them for a month.
“He insisted on the commercial deficit that the U.S. has with Mexico. I told him it was not a deficit, that we are commercial partners, and it’s the best way to compete with China and other countries,” Sheinbaum said.
“I told him to collaborate,” Sheinbaum said. “He has agreed to the working group.”
Trump had told reporters he would speak on Monday with Sheinbaum and Trudeau prior to imposing import tariffs on their goods. The U.S. president was expected to sign executive orders on Tuesday putting in place 25% tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada and 10% tariffs on those from China, according to the White House.
Trump said Monday afternoon he plans to talk to China in the next day or two about tariffs on that country.
Sheinbaum in a video posted to social media on Sunday said her government was calling for “reason and law” among “individuals as well as among nations.”
‘This measure of 25% tariffs has effects for both countries but it has very serious effects for the U.S. economy,” she said, “because it will raise the costs of all the products that are exported from Mexico to the U.S., it will have a 25% higher cost.”
Trudeau responded to the planned tariffs on Saturday evening, announcing his country will implement 25% tariffs on 155 billion Canadian dollars, or about $107 billion, of U.S. goods. The prime minister said he has not talked to Trump since his inauguration.
Sheinbaum, who was elected in June, offered little detail on how her government’s “Plan B” would respond to the tariffs.
She instructed her economic secretary to “implement Plan B that we have been working on, which includes tariff and non-tariff measures in defense of Mexico’s interests,” she said in a statement written in Spanish and translated by ABC News.
She also sought to remind the White House that the current free trade agreements between the U.S. and Mexico have been in place for about three decades.
“The last free trade agreement was signed by President López Obrador and President Trump himself,” she said.
Trump on Sunday told reporters he was unconcerned about the potential impact of imposing tariffs on close trading partners, saying the American people would understand.
“We may have short term, some, a little pain, and people understand that, but, long term, the United States has been ripped off by virtually every country in the world,” he told reporters on Sunday, as he departed Air Force One at Maryland’s Joint Base Andrews.
He added, “We have deficits with almost every country, not every country, but almost. And we’re going to change it. It’s been unfair. That’s why we owe $36 trillion; we have deficits with everybody.”
Canada has been taking advantage of the U.S., Trump said, calling the relationship with the country a “one-way street.”
“They don’t allow our banks. Did you know that Canada does not allow banks to go in, if you think about it, that’s pretty amazing,” he said. “If we have a U.S. bank, they don’t allow them to go in.”
Trump added, “Canada has been very tough on oil, on energy. They don’t allow our farm products in. Essentially, they don’t allow a lot of things in, and we allow everything to come in. It’s been a one-way street.”
ABC News’ Matt Rivers, Max Zahn, Kelsey Walsh, Victoria Beaule and William Gretsky contributed to this report.
