As staid Democratic lawmakers demurely raised ping-pong paddle-sized signs reading “Musk Steals” and “Lies” to protest President Donald Trump‘s 99-minute address to Congress on Tuesday, Representative Al Green (D-TX) raised himself up in protest, vocally objecting to the President’s plans and imploring him to save Medicaid, the government healthcare program that millions of Americans rely on.
[Note: House Republicans narrowly passed (217-215) a budget resolution last week that seeks to extend tax cuts and calls for $880 billion in spending cuts from the agency that oversees Medicaid, while projecting to save $1.9 trillion over ten years.]
For his disruption, Green was escorted out of the chamber as House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) called for the Democratic congressman’s removal. Green was subsequently censured by the House of Representatives, a punishment he said he would gladly accept as the price for what he characterized as an essential, critical act of civil disobedience — his unequivocal objection to the gutting of Medicaid.
Green was back in the chamber today where he re-emphasized his resistance — and asserted that his cause was more important any personal satisfaction he might gain from winning the battle.
“I am going to fight the cutting of Medicaid,” Green said. “I hope that this comment, this message that I’m giving today will deter them and cause them to go a different way. Then they can say they were never going to do it. ‘Al Green? He just had this false notion.'”
Green isn’t trying to win a game of gotcha, in other words — he wants to save Medicaid even if his opponents must portray him as paranoid in the process. The congressman suggested that he is happy to allow Republicans to deny their intent to gut Medicaid, as long as that denial means they won’t do it.
Green: Don't cut medicaid. It's all they have. This is the richest country in the world. Mr. Musk.. Let him understand that he should be on my side. He should be on the side of the people who need this health care. He has the ear of the president. Mr. Musk, speak to him. He… pic.twitter.com/GSQjBzrL0q
— Acyn (@Acyn) March 6, 2025
“Let me have [my false notion],” Green said. “This is the richest country in the world. Mr. Musk has doctors. He will get the best healthcare. Let him understand that he should be on my side. He should be on the side of the people who need this healthcare.”
Then Green addressed Musk directly, noting his position as chief influencer in the Trump administration, and asked Musk to intervene with the President on behalf of those who rely on Medicaid.
“Mr. Musk, speak to him,” Green said, referencing Trump. “He listens to you. But for the grace of God, brother, you could be on Medicaid. You’ve just been blessed. Don’t assume that it was your intellect that has caused you all of these great blessings that you’ve received. You’ve just been blessed beyond measure. Speak to the President, and tell him that Medicaid ought not be cut.”
