Controversial Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene Booted from House Committees in Extraordinary Show of Disapproval

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.Photo: Erin Scott-Pool/Getty

In an incredibly unusual show of disapproval of one of its members, the House of Representatives on Thursday voted to strip freshman Georgia lawmakerMarjorie Taylor Greeneof all her committee assignmentsin the wake of escalating controversyof her past support of conspiracy theories, violent rhetoric and other behavior.

The House voted 230 to 199 to remove Greene, 46, from the Education and Budget committees.

“I have never encountered a situation like the one before us now, where a member has made such vile and hurtful statements, engaged in the harassment of colleagues and expressed support for political violence,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said in a speech Thursday. “None of us should take any pleasure in what we must do today, but to do nothing would be an abdication of our moral responsibility to our colleagues, to the House, to our values, to the truth and to our country.”

Eleven Republicans bucked party lines and voted with the Democratic majority to remove Greene from her assigned committees. But the bulk of GOP lawmakers showed their support even as Republican leaders disavowed Greene’s behavior to varying degrees.

Some Republicans argued Thursday’s vote was more retaliatory than moral and could create a dangerous new dynamic of revenge, with whichever party was dominant in the House undermining the minority party’s control of its apportioned committee assignments.

Democrats said Thursday’s vote was their recourse.

Without a committee assignment, Greene will see her effective power drastically decrease as a lawmaker.

Wearing a mask that read “Free Speech,” she spoke on the House floor Thursday todefend herselfahead of the vote, expressing some remorse although she did not offer an apology for her past remarks.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.Dustin Chambers/Getty

Later in her remarks, in a backpedal from some of her most outlandish past actions, Greene said “school shootings are absolutely real,” “9/11 absolutely happened” — but, she insisted, “cancel culture is a real thing.”

She also pointed the finger at others.

“You see, big media companies can take teeny tiny pieces of words that I’ve said, that you have said, any of us and can portray us and to someone that we’re not, and that is wrong,” Greene said. “Cancel culture is a real thing. It is very real. And when big tech companies like Twitter, you can scroll through and see where someone may have retweeted porn. This is a problem.”

On Friday she sounded unabashed, tweeting: “I woke up early this morning literally laughing thinking about what a bunch of morons the Democrats (+11 [Republicans]) are for giving some one like me free time.”

Greene is an avowedDonald Trumpsupporter — and campaigned last year as a provocateur in his style — and she was initially most known for espousing support for the bizarre QAnon conspiracy theory. (Her representatives now say she doesn’t believe in QAnon.)

Condemnation has steadily grown against Greene since she was sworn into Congress in January, as more and more of her past social media activity and other behavior came to light. For example, asCNN reported, among Greene’s pages was a “liked” Facebook comment that called for “a bullet to the head” of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

“Over the years, I’ve had teams of people manage my pages,” shepreviously tweeted. “Many posts have been liked. Many posts have been shared. Some did not represent my views. Especially the ones that CNN is about to spread across the internet.”

Separately, videos showing Greene repeatedly badgering Parkland school shooting survivor David Hogg led many of her colleagues to question why she had been given one of the Republican seats on the Education and Labor Committee.

“Guess what? I’m a gun owner,” Greene says to the camera in the video. “I’m an American citizen. And I have nothing. But this guy with his George Soros funding and his major liberal funding has got everything.”

Anothervideofilmed at an unclear date, which appears to be taken inside a government office building, shows Greene following Hogg and asking if he “really thinks red flag gun laws” would prevent mass shootings.

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (center).Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty

Last week, a spokesman for House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthytold Axiosthe top GOP lawmaker in the House would have a conversations with Greene in light of the posts.

Speaking to CNN after the videos came to light, Hogg said McCarthy should do more than just speak to Greene, suggesting the GOP leader “take all of her committee assignments away.”

McCarthy has since told reporter’s Greene rhetoric did not align with GOP values but he cautioned against judging her now for that past. Republican senators have spoken out more forcefully against her, including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell who said she was “not living in reality.”

Last week, Speaker Pelosi also slammed the GOP response to Greene’s actions, asking “what could they be thinking?” when it came to assigning her to the Education Committee.

“Assigning her to the Education Committee when she has mocked the killing of little children at Sandy Hook Elementary School, when she has mocked the killing of teenagers in high school at the Marjory Stoneman Douglas high school — what could they be thinking?” Pelosi asked on Thursday. “Or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing? It’s absolutely appalling, and I think the focus has to be on the Republican leadership of this House of Representatives for the disregard they have for the death of those children.”

In a GOP caucus meeting held the night before the vote, some Republican lawmakers reportedlyapplauded Greene.

The party’s treatment of Greene is in stark contrast to how it has handled Rep. Liz Cheney, the House’s No. 3 Republican, who has faced calls from within her own party to strip her of her leadership post as a punishment for hervote to impeachformer President Trump.

source: people.com