Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene faces a House vote Thursday that could strip her from her committee assignments, following uproar over her history of trafficking in racism, anti-Semitism and baseless conspiracy theories, along with her support for violence against Democrats prior to taking office.
The vote comes a day after the House Rules Committee advanced a resolution, put forth by Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., to remove Greene from her assignments on two top committees: Budget and Education and Labor.
Greene has been rebuked by Democrats and many in her own party, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, who called rhetoric like hers a “cancer” on the GOP.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy released a statement Wednesday night condemning Greene’s past comments but didn’t indicate that any party disciplinary action would be taken against her.
Greene is not the only Republican congresswoman who faced questions about her political future this week.
Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney, the No. 3 Republican in the House, was the subject of discussions in the GOP Conference over her vote to impeach Trump. Late Wednesday night, House Republicans voted to keep Cheney in her leadership position.
During Wednesday’s rules hearing on Greene, ranking member Tom Cole, R-Okla., distanced himself from Greene but said the issue of kicking her off of committees should be adjudicated by the House Ethics Committee.
We’re not recommending doing nothing,” Cole noted.
“We do think we’re on unusual ground in applying the Code of Conduct to conduct before somebody was [in office],” he said. “That doesn’t mean that’s not worth thinking about because I do think [Greene’s] remarks are extraordinarily disturbing and they are worthy of being considered. All I’m saying is I would like some process to do that.”
Other Republicans in the virtual hearing expressed concern over the precedent of a majority party removing a member of the minority party from their committee assignments.
But Chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., argued that setting the precedent of members losing committee spots after advocating violence against their colleagues would not be a bad thing.
“If that’s the precedent, that people are calling for the assassination of other members of this body, if that’s a disqualifier for serving on a committee, I’m all for it. I’m fine with it and I can live with that,” he said. “And boy, that shouldn’t even be controversial.”
He also noted that Greene has shown no remorse for her past comments in her current role as a member of Congress.
“She’s fundraising for this stuff as we speak,” he said, referencing a tweet from Greene where she says she “will never back down.” Greene also tweeted that she’s raised over $160,000 on Tuesday alone.
“When something like this has happened in the past, leadership on both sides always did the right thing,” he said, referencing former Reps. William Jefferson and Steve King, whom McGovern said were both stripped of their committee assignments at the direction of their party leadership.
For her part, Greene has touted a particular ally in her corner: former President Donald Trump.
She tweeted Saturday that she had a “GREAT call” with him, adding she is grateful for his support.
