U.S. Rep. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, introduced a resolution to formally censure Democratic Congressman Al Green for his protest against President Donald Trump at the State of the Union address.

During Tuesday night’s address, Green, of Texas, waved a sign that read “Black People Aren’t Apes” in protest to a racist video Trump, a Republican, posted to social media earlier this month and later removed that depicted former Democratic President Barack Obama and former first lady Michael Obama, who are both black, as apes. Trump has refused to apologize.

Green was removed from the address for the second straight year, ejected last year for standing and shaking his cane towards Trump.

Rulli, whose safe Republican district includes Mahoning and Columbiana counties, said of Green: “His shenanigans at the State of the Union were uncalled for. We can’t really put up with that kind of conduct in Congress. Something had to be done. I’m looking for as many cosponsors from our conference as possible. And I’m reaching across the aisle for anyone over there that was embarrassed by their own guy.”

Rulli’s resolution states Green “disrupted” the address “and was a breach of proper conduct.”

The House voted to censure Green in March 2025 for the protest at the last State of the Union address.

Speaker of the House Mike Johnson, a Louisiana Republican, declined to commit to a censure of Green.

After being ejected, Green said: “Judging from the expression on (Trump’s) face, he got the message. He saw it, he got the message.”

Rulli has introduced other legislation to seemingly curry favor with Trump that have been met with indifference by his fellow House members, including his fellow Republicans.

Rulli on Oct. 10 introduced the “Italian Heroes and Heritage Act” that would punish any local or state government that celebrates Indigenous Peoples’ Day instead of Columbus Day. The bill doesn’t have a single cosponsor and has sat in the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform without a hearing.

Rulli on July 10 introduced a resolution to designate July 13 as “Faith and Defiance Day” to honor President Donald Trump’s “unshakable courage in the face of life-threatening hatred” during an assassination attempt on that date in 2024 in Butler, Pa.

That resolution also failed to get a single cosponsor and is in the same House committee without a hearing.

Rulli on June 11 introduced the Giving Alien Migrants Back Through Lawful Excise Redistribution (GAMBLER) Act to redirect an estimated $300 million in federal gambling taxes from the U.S. Treasury to Immigration and Custom Enforcement for enforcement, detention and deportation operations.

The bill was referred to the House Committee on Ways and Means, and the Committee on the Judiciary. Neither committee has held a hearing on the bill and it has one cosponsor, U.S. Rep. Troy E. Nehls, a Texas Republican.

Regarding Trump’s address, Rulli said it “made one thing clear, America is back. We are cutting taxes for hard-working families, standing up for American manufacturing and energy, securing our border, and restoring strength at home and abroad. The people of Ohio’s 6th District want safety, affordability and opportunity, and that is exactly what we are fighting for.”

U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce, R-Bainbridge, whose district includes all of Trumbull County, said Trump’s address “highlighted the wins of his administration and the Republican-led Congress for the American people. When President Trump was chosen to lead our country again, he promised to deliver a secure border, economic growth, and eliminate waste, fraud and abuse from our government.”

Joyce added: “Over the past year, the president and Congress have delivered on those promises, securing critical tax cuts for working families across the country, stopping the flow of deadly drugs like fentanyl across our southern border, and cutting bureaucratic red tape to unleash energy production, bolster housing supply and increase military readiness.”