House Speaker Mike Johnson was cool to the prospect of formally punishing Democrats like Rep. Al Green of Texas for protesting at the State of the Union.
“We’ll be talking about that. … I think the punishment is the video that lives on forever of them acting as they did, the total lack of respect and decorum and just carrying it on,” he told Semafor. “I think it’s a bad look for them and their party.”
There’s not much appetite among other top Republicans, either.
“I get frustrated. Everybody calls on everybody to be censured,” said Rep. James Comer, R-Ky.
But even if GOP leaders aren’t thrilled by the idea of devoting more time to an inevitable back-and-forth over legislative punishments, it’s still possible for rank-and-file GOP lawmakers to force a House vote on a censure under fast-track procedures that bypass committees and leadership.