On Thursday, the House of Representatives voted to remove Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from her committee assignments after a series of controversial remarks that she made in the past comprising debunked conspiracy theories.
After a 230-199 vote, where 11 Republicans also voted with Democrats, Greene was removed from her assignments.
BREAKING: US House votes 230-199 to remove Rep. Greene from two House cmtes; 11 House Republicans joined Democrats. pic.twitter.com/vjj2nqiSs9
— NBC News (@NBCNews) February 4, 2021
The votes came after Greene renounced some of the incendiary remarks that she made in the past. Including among them is a 10-minute speech that she made on the House floor.
Of the 11 Republicans that voted to remove Rep. Greene, three of them were members of her freshman class, including Young Kim (CA), Rep. Carlos Gimenez (FL), and Nicole Malliotakis (NY).
The other eight Republican representatives who voted to remove Greene were Reps. Chris Jacobs (NY), John Katko (NY), Adam Kinzinger (IL), Mario Diaz-Balart (FL), Chris Smith (NJ), Fred Upton (MI), and Brian Fitzpatrick (PA).
According to Fox News, typically, party leadership decides the committee slots for their own members. For instance, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy in 2019 decided to remove former Rep. Steve King (R-IA) from committee assignments after he made remarks labeled as racist. However, the House Minority leader declined to take action against Greene, stating that she has denounced QAnon and will abide by a higher standard as a member of the Congress.
Marjorie Taylor Greene defended herself on Thursday by saying that the media is “just as guilty” as QAnon of lying and arguing that Democrats want to “crucify me in the public square for words that I said — and I regret — a few years ago.” https://t.co/LGssCrqIMM
— JM Rieger (@RiegerReport) February 4, 2021
In addition to this, Fox News also reported, “Greene defended herself in a floor speech earlier Thursday where she said she regretted her past statements on QAnon conspiracy theories and made clear she thought that the 9/11 terrorist attacks and school shootings were not a hoax.”
Meanwhile, on Wednesday, McCarthy issued a statement slamming Greene’s past comments as well as emphasizing some of the outrageous actions that elected Democrats have engaged in who still have their committee assignments.
The House Minority leader said, “Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference. I condemn those comments unequivocally. I condemned them in the past. I continue to condemn them today. This House condemned QAnon last Congress and continues to do so today.”
“Past comments from and endorsed by [@RepMTG] on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the [HRC]. I condemn those comments unequivocally.” #LeaderMcCarthy #RepMTG https://t.co/KOWcD9FvXh
— Rachel A. Elovitz (@RachelAliza) February 4, 2021
McCarthy continued and stated that he made it clear to Rep. Greene when they met. He also made it clear that as a member of Congress, they are responsible for holding themselves to a higher standard than how they presented themselves as a private citizen. The House Minority leader also added that Rep. Greene’s comments now have much greater meaning and that she recognized this in their conversation.
“I hold her to her word, as well as her actions going forward. I understand that Marjorie’s comments have caused deep wounds to many, and as a result, I offered Majority Leader Hoyer a path to lower the temperature and address these concerns.”
However, instead of coming together to do that, the Democrats chose to elevate the matter by way McCarthy termed it as “taking the unprecedented step to further their partisan power grab regarding the committee assignments of the other party.”
Republicans pass on punishing Greene & removing her from committees.
"The Democrats are choosing to raise the temperature by taking the unprecedented step to further their partisan power grab regarding the other's committee assignments," said McCarthy. https://t.co/MyQvGQ0VuR
— susiQ (@usernewm) February 4, 2021
McCarthy also added that while Democrats pursue a resolution on Greene, Democrats “continue to do nothing about Democrats serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee who have spread anti-Semitic tropes, Democrats on the House Intelligence and Homeland Security Committee compromised by Chinese spies or the Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee who advocated for violence against public servants.”
McCarthy: "In the end, this resolution continues to distract Congress, especially given the limited time that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat leadership want the House to debate and work, on what it needs to focus on:…"
— Craig Caplan (@CraigCaplan) February 3, 2021
The House Minority Leader ended his statement by saying that in the end, the resolution that they made against Rep. Greene “continues to distract Congress.” He said, “especially given the limited time that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat leadership want the House to debate and work, on what it needs to focus on: getting Americans back to work, getting kids back to school, and providing vaccines to all Americans who need it.”
