House to vote on removing Marjorie Taylor Greene from committee appointments



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House Democrats, who control the chamber, staged the vote after initially trying to pressure Republicans to strip the Georgia Republican of his committee duties. House Republicans did not take this step, however, and House GOP Leader Kevin McCarthy released a statement on Wednesday calling on Democrats’ push to withdraw the MP’s committee assignments a “take-over.” partisan power ”.

The measure the House will support calls on Greene to be removed from the House Education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee “in light of her conduct.”

The move could set a risky precedent as Democrats target a sitting member of the opposing party in Congress on views expressed before she was elected – a precedent that could one day be used against the party by Republicans.

The Georgia Republican has also faced backlash following recently resurfaced comments about the Parkland School shooting in 2018.

Students who survived the Parkland, Florida shooting and families of the victims called for Greene’s resignation after comments surfaced showing her agreeing with those who said the shooting was an operation “under false flag”.

Parkland shooting survivor calls on GOP leader to denounce Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene

A spokesperson for McCarthy called Greene’s comments “deeply disturbing” in a recent statement, and McCarthy tried to sideline Republicans from his rhetoric in his statement Wednesday.

“Marjorie Taylor Greene’s past and approved comments on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values ​​or beliefs of the Republican House Conference.” I condemn these comments unequivocally. I have condemned them in the past. I continue to condemn them today. This House condemned the last QAnon Congress and continues to do so today, ”he said.

But the California Republican went on to accuse the Democrats of division, saying “the Democrats are choosing to turn the heat up by taking an unprecedented step to continue their partisan takeover over the other party’s committee assignments.”

Greene has been shunned by some prominent Republicans in Congress, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, who criticized her adherence to “wacky lies and conspiracy theories,” without naming the MP, in a statement short but sharp Monday night.

Greene has been publicly unapologetic and provocative in the face of criticism. She addressed the controversy at a closed House GOP conference on Wednesday night and said her social media posts did not reflect who she was as a person, according to a person in the room.

She announced on Saturday that she had spoken to former President Donald Trump and said she was “very grateful for (Trump’s) support,” adding: “Most importantly, the people of this country are absolutely loyal to him. 100% because he’s 100% loyal to the people and America first. “

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Majority House Leader Steny Hoyer, a Democrat from Maryland, took the first step towards removing Greene from her roles on both committees after speaking with McCarthy on Wednesday.

“I spoke to Chief McCarthy this morning, and it is clear that there is no alternative to having a floor vote on the resolution to remove Representative Greene from her committee appointments.” Hoyer said in a statement, adding that “the House will vote on tomorrow’s resolution.”

McCarthy later told reporters that he proposed that Greene be transferred to the small business committee.

“Marjorie is also a small business owner. Move her to the small business. I made this offer to the Democrats and they chose to do something Congress never did,” he said. declared.

Democratic Representative Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who is sponsoring the privileged resolution to impeach Greene, explained in a call with reporters on Monday how the House could strip Greene of his committee duties.

“We can take it off the committee because at the end of the day, even though our party leaders and our party process appoint us to committees, the House actually upholds those party recommendations, essentially, and therefore because it is. a House action, we are able to take a House action to remove a member from the committee, ”she said.

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The resolution only requires a simple majority to pass, not a two-thirds vote, which is why Wasserman Schultz told reporters on Monday she expects it to pass.

The MP said she has spoken to Republicans about the resolution and while she does not expect any co-signers, she does expect some support.

“I’m talking to Republicans, and while I don’t have much hope of attracting Republican cosponsors, I expect that when we bring the resolution up for debate as a preferred resolution, it will will get Republican support, but not much, ”she said.

CNN’s Manu Raju and Lauren Fox contributed to this report.

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