House To Vote On Stripping Marjorie Taylor Greene Of Committee Assignments

The House Rules Committee has approved a measure stripping Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., of her committee appointments over inflammatory statements and conspiracy theories. The effort now moves to the House itself for debate and a Thursday vote, where Republicans are expected to repeat their arguments that Democrats’ actions are an overreach.

Republicans suggested Wednesday that the Ethics Committee should review Greene’s case and recommend actions to Republican leadership, arguing that Democrats were overstepping by trying to police actions outside of their caucus. They also attacked Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., accusing her of anti-Semitic statements that went unpunished by Democratic leadership.

“A bipartisan ethics committee exists to adjudicate matters related to the official code of conduct,” said Rep. Thomas Cole, R-Okla. “Anything different would risk sending the institution down a precarious path. I worry a lot about the precedent of another party choosing to [remove members.]”

Democrats waved away concerns about Omar’s past statements as irrelevant to the current question and noted that they could have introduced the measure as a privileged resolution to the House, denying Republicans any say in the matter.

“She’s doubled down on it. She’s fundraising off of this stuff as we speak,” said Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass. “In terms of precedent, if the precedent’s that if somebody advocates putting a bullet in the head of a member of congress, that’s what it takes to get thrown off of committees? I’m fine with that.”

Greene provoked outrage with a deluge of controversial statements, from encouraging House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s assassination to harassing school shooting survivors to suggesting that California’s wildfires were caused by Jewish space lasers.

Her focus on school shootings, as well as her frequent suggestion that shootings were staged to curtail gun ownership, have been a particular focus given her assignment to the House Labor and Education Committee.

Greene has said that some of her more outlandish actions on social media were likely executed by an employee, but she also released an unrepentant “message to the mob” in which she portrayed herself as a martyr who will “take all these slings and arrows gladly for you.”

Republican leadership has been reluctant to punish Greene for her statements, merely disavowing the remarks and promising to have a “conversation” with her. That apparently was unsuccessful, with Greene publishing her fiery denial soon afterward.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell offered a more strident denouncement Monday, calling her statements "loony lies and conspiracy theories" that "are cancer for the Republican Party."

“We had hoped the Republican leadership would have dealt with this. For whatever reason, they didn’t want to, so we’re taking this step,” said McGovern. “It is not enough to just distance yourself from her remarks. The real question is what action you will take.”