<div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-0"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Democratic lawmakers on Sunday expressed disappointment at their party’s uncoordinated response to President Trump’s address to Congress last week, criticizing a colleague who staged a one-man protest during the speech by standing up and repeatedly shouting, “No mandate.”</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The party’s leadership urged its members last week to stage a solemn and staid protest during Mr. Trump’s Tuesday speech, which was televised to nearly 37 million viewers. But Representative Al Green of Texas heckled the president and eventually was escorted out of the chamber.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">The criticisms aimed at Mr. Green come as congressional Democrats debate how much to obstruct Mr. Trump’s agenda. With government funding set to expire after midnight Friday, Democrats <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/us/politics/democrats-congress-spending-budget.html" title="">must decide</a> whether they will vote for legislation to avert a shutdown or refuse to do so while Mr. Trump is defunding and dismantling Congressionally approved federal programs.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">On Sunday news shows, five Democratic lawmakers, including two progressives, made roundabout criticisms of Mr. Green. They pointed to <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/05/us/trump-address-us-reaction.html" title="">the backlash his protest generated from both Republican and nonpartisan voters</a>, as well as the media attention it created, which they saw as a distraction to Democrats’ messaging against Mr. Trump’s policies.</p></div><aside aria-label="companion column" class="css-ew4tgv"></aside></div><div data-testid="Dropzone-1"></div><div class="css-s99gbd StoryBodyCompanionColumn" data-testid="companionColumn-1"><div class="css-53u6y8"><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">“That was a strategic mistake as well as something that just is not appropriate for the decorum of the U.S. House of Representatives,” Representative Tom Suozzi, Democrat of New York, said on CBS. Mr. Suozzi, whose district voted for Mr. Trump in 2024, was <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/06/us/politics/al-green-censure-trump-speech.html" title="">one of 10 Democrats who voted with Republicans</a> to formally censure Mr. Green on Thursday. A censure is one of the highest forms of reprimand in the House.</p><p class="css-at9mc1 evys1bk0">Senator Adam Schiff, Democrat of California, said on ABC that Democrats’ “lack of coordinated response” was “a mistake” and that his party should have focused on how the Republican plan to slash government spending <a class="css-yywogo" href="https://www.nytimes.com/2025/02/25/us/politics/medicaid-cuts-republican-budget.html" title="">may lead to cuts on Medicaid</a>.</p><div class="css-1336jj"><div class="css-121kum4"><div class="css-171quhb"></div><div class="css-asuuk5"><noscript><div class="css-7axq9l" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript"><svg aria-hidden="true" class="css-1b5b8u1" height="24" viewbox="0 0 24 24" width="24"><path clip-rule="evenodd" d="M2.5 12a9.5 9.5 0 1 1 19 0 9.5 9.5 0 0 1-19 0Zm8.5 1.75v-7.5h2v7.5h-2Zm0 2v2h2v-2h-2Z" fill="currentColor" fill-rule="evenodd"></path></svg><div class="css-6yo1no" data-testid="optimistic-truncator-noscript-message"><p class="css-3kpklk">We are having trouble retrieving the article content.</p><p class="css-3kpklk">Please enable JavaScript in your browser settings.</p></div></div></noscript><div class="css-1dv1kvn" id="optimistic-truncator-a11y" tabindex="-1"><hr/><p>Thank you for your patience while we verify access. 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