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.
(WASHINGTON) — The IRS started a new round of layoffs on Friday beginning with the agency’s Office of Civil Rights and Compliance, according to an email obtained by ABC News.
Overall, the agency is planning to cut nearly a quarter of its workforce with the cuts beginning Friday, sources familiar with the plans said.
“This action is being taken to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the IRS in accordance with agency priorities,” according to the email, which added that the layoffs will “result in staffing cuts across multiple offices and job categories.”
The civil rights office will be effectively shuttered by the move, with the remaining staffers moved into the Office of Chief Counsel, according to the email.
The agency had previously drawn up plans to cut roughly 18% to 20% of the 100,000-person workforce by the middle of May.
The email sent to IRS employees Friday said the reduction in force will “be implemented in phases” and noted that employees will be offered early retirement incentives starting next week.
The agency also recently put approximately 50 IT security staffers on administrative leave, according to people familiar with the move, as the agency faces pressure to make workforce cuts and demands for data-sharing across the federal government during tax season. The Trump administration has said workforce changes will not affect staff directly working to process tax returns.
However, there are concerns that the layoffs may still cause delays.
“The bottom line: Forever, it has been an absolute rule of thumb that you keep things stable during filing season. Because it’s delicate,” one former IRS commissioner told ABC News. “And the idea that nearly 10% of the entire IRS workforce is being laid off right in the middle of filing season is extremely risky.”
Earlier this year, more than 4,000 IRS employees accepted the Trump administration’s deferred resignation offer. The agency also fired more than 6,600 probationary employees but has been forced to reinstate them under court orders.
It’s not clear if members of those two groups of employees will be targeted in the new reductions in force.
Several senior agency leaders, including the chief human resources officer, acting commissioner and acting general counsel, have resigned or been demoted since January.
The IRS and the White House did not respond to a requests for comment from ABC News.
(WASHINGTON) — Top Congressional Democrats are expressing outrage after members of President Donald Trump’s administration inadvertently added Jeffrey Goldberg, the editor-in-chief of The Atlantic, to an unsecured message thread discussing highly sensitive war plans on Monday.
National Security Adviser Mike Waltz, who apparently added Goldberg to the Signal chat, was joined on the thread by those identified by Goldberg as Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, Vice President JD Vance and Secretary of State Marco Rubio — among others.
Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer responded forcefully on the chamber floor on Monday, calling upon Leader John Thune and Senate Republicans to work with Democrats in calling a “full investigation” into why officials had coordinated military operations over Signal, rather than using taxpayer-funded secure communications channels.
“Mr. President, this is one of the most stunning breaches of military intelligence I have read about in a very, very long time,” Schumer said.
“What we have here are senior U.S. leaders, including the Vice President and Secretary of Defense, having classified discussions of military action over an unsecure app,” Schumer continued. “It’s bad enough that a private citizen was added to this chain, but it’s far worse that sensitive military information was exchanged on an unauthorized application, especially when that sensitive military information was so so important.”
“This kind of carelessness is how people get killed. It’s how our enemies can take advantage of us. It’s how our national security falls into danger,” he added.
The Democratic leader said that the investigation he’s called for should look into how this “debacle” happened, the damage it created, and how they could avoid it in the future.
“Every single Senator– Republican and Democrat and Independent, must demand accountability. If a government employee shared sensitive military plans like this, they’d be investigated and face very harsh consequences,” Schumer said.
He also suggested that his Republican colleagues should be as “outraged” by this incident as they were over the email controversy involving former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in the days before the 2016 election, which she lost to Trump.
“If you were up in arms over unsecure emails years ago, you should certainly be outraged by this amateurish behavior,” Schumer said.
Schumer ended his brief remarks by claiming that Democrats has anticipated an event like this one when they opposed Hegseth’s nomination.
“When Pete Hegseth came before the Senate as a nominee, Democrats warned that something like this might happen. These people are clearly not up for the job. we warned confirming them was dangerous, that they behaved recklessly. Unfortunately, we were right. Now, we must have accountability in both parties. The Senate should investigate how this blunder was even possible,” Schumer said.
Clinton also reacted. “You have got to be kidding me,” she posted on X on Monday.
House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries also advocated for a congressional investigation and directly called out Hegseth.
“There should absolutely be a congressional investigation so that we can understand what happened. Why did it happen, and how do we prevent this type of national security breach from ever happening again,” Jeffries said at a press conference on Monday.
Jeffries, who got fired up when asked about the incident, called the situation “reckless, irresponsible and dangerous” and suggested that those involved were “jeopardizing America’s national security” — before sharply criticizing Hegseth.
“This whole Trump administration is filled with lackeys and incompetent cronies. I’m not talking about any particular individual, though,” he said. “I will note that the secretary of Defense who was on that chain has got to be the most unqualified person ever to lead the Pentagon in American history. Think about that.”
Speaker Mike Johnson downplayed the flurry of national security concerns on Monday afternoon.
“Look, I’m not going to characterize what happened. I think the administration has acknowledged it was a mistake, and they’ll tighten up and make sure it doesn’t happen again. I don’t know what else you can say about,” he told reporters at the Capitol, following a White House event where he appeared alongside Trump and the governor of Louisiana.
Johnson added that he doesn’t believe Waltz or Hegseth should be disciplined for the incident.
In addition to his on-camera remarks, Jeffries released a statement on the national security breach, calling it “completely outrageous.”
“It is yet another unprecedented example that our nation is increasingly more dangerous because of the elevation of reckless and mediocre individuals, including the Secretary of Defense,” Jeffries said.
He reiterated his call for a Congressional investigation into the matter — even though Democrats have little power to do so since they are in the minority.
“If House Republicans are truly serious about keeping America safe, and not simply being sycophants and enablers, they must join Democrats in a swift, serious and substantive investigation into this unacceptable and irresponsible national security breach,” he concluded.
Speaking to reporters in Honolulu on Monday, during a layover for a trip to Asia, Hegseth disputed Goldberg’s description of the chat, saying “nobody was texting war plans.”
Trump said he “doesn’t know anything about it” when first asked about the reports on Monday afternoon. The Pentagon referred questions to the National Security Council and the White House.
When asked by ABC News on Monday, the White House said that the Signal chat “appears to be authentic.” Additionally, White House National Security Council spokesman Brian Hughes shared with ABC News the statement he provided to The Atlantic confirming the veracity of a Signal group chat.
Both the top Republican and top Democrat on the Senate Armed Services Committee said Monday that they expect to receive classified briefings aimed at addressing the incident.
ABC News’ Fritz Farrow, Jay O’Brien, Lauren Peller and T. Michelle Murphy contributed to this report.
(WASHINGTON) — The United States Supreme Court on Monday will hear arguments in a Louisiana case involving politics, race and voting maps with potential implications for the 2026 midterm elections.
The justices are considering a dispute over how Louisiana’s congressional districts were drawn after the 2020 census.
Louisiana has six congressional districts — four represented by Republicans and two by Democrats. The Democratic districts are majority black residents.
A group of non-black citizens is challenging those Democratic districts, saying the state relied too much on race as a factor in how the lines were drawn. The group is requesting that the state only have one majority black district.
The state and civil rights groups — on the same side — are defending the map, conceding that officials did consider race as part of a mandate by the Voting Rights Act to ensure that minority voters were given a fair shot at representation. Still, the state and civiil rights groups are insisting that it did not predominate in decision making.
The Supreme Court is being asked to clarify rules for how states can draw maps that comply with two competing rules : VRA mandates to protect minority voter rights and the Equal Protection Clause, which ensures that everyone is treated equally under the law.
The balancing act could have consequences for who controls power in Washington.
Republicans have a razor-thin majority in the House, which means every single seat could be key to the balance of power after the 2026 midterm elections.
A decision in the case is expected by the end of June.
