[ad_1]
The Republican rookie from Georgia drew fury in the House Democratic caucus even before being elected in November. But that anger has grown much more intense in recent days, after CNN and Media Matters uncovered Facebook posts in which Greene was spreading lies that Sandy Hook and other deadly school shootings had been staged. Another article showed that Greene had repeatedly endorsed the execution of Top Democrats – including Pelosi herself – in 2018 and 2019.
Pelosi signaled Thursday that she was placing the responsibility directly on Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy to act, who said through a spokesperson that he planned to have a ” conversation ”with Greene about his“ disturbing ”comments. But so far, there is no indication that the Californian Republican intends to remove her from newly allocated committee seats – even though at least one GOP conference member is publicly demanding that McCarthy make such a move.
Greene’s office said she had no intention of resigning, citing the strong and continued support of her constituents back home.
Greene’s plight is fueling tensions throughout the House, which remains effervescent just three weeks after the Jan.6 riot on Capitol Hill. Many Democrats say they are still shaken by the potential role of GOP members in this attack, including Greene, who helped lead the charge in a failed attempt to overturn the 2020 election results and has been blamed even by some republicans for helping to incite insurgency. The House impeached former President Donald Trump for inciting the mob that stormed the Capitol.
Leading Democrats, including Pelosi, said the roles of these GOP lawmakers in the riot were under investigation and members could face consequences if federal law enforcement found they were actually involved in planning.
“The enemy is in the House of Representatives,” Pelosi said. “We have members of Congress who want to bring guns to the ground and have threatened to rape other members.”
In a palpable sign of anger at Greene, House Education Committee chairman Bobby Scott (D-Va.), Took the unusual step of denouncing Greene’s appointment to his committee, citing his offensive comments on the mass shootings in schools.
“Minority House Leader Kevin McCarthy must explain how someone with this experience represents the Republican Party on education issues,” Scott wrote in a scathing statement Thursday.
Some Democrats don’t wait for GOP leaders to act. Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) Introduces a resolution to expel Greene from Congress, which would require two-thirds support in the House. And Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) Is preparing a bill to kick Greene off her committees if she is allowed to stay. While the deportation is unlikely, Democrats are not ruling out further action against Greene.
“She shouldn’t have a public platform to spread more dangerous lies,” said Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Chairman of the House Ethics Committee representing Parkland, Fla., Where teenagers were shot dead in a high school. in 2018. Greene was also seen on a video harassing a survivor of that shooting in a video from January 2019 that recently resurfaced.
“Not on a House committee. Not as a member of Congress, ”Deutch said.
The episode is just Greene’s latest headache for GOP leaders. After POLITICO uncovered a trove of racist Facebook videos it made last summer, McCarthy and other prominent Republicans rushed to condemn Greene, who was still a candidate for Congress at the time.
But then, to the frustration of many House Republicans, McCarthy did little to stop Greene from winning his primary. She was then welcomed to the GOP conference with open arms, securing seats on the education panel as well as the House Budget Committee, which will play a key role if Democrats use reconciliation to pass another coronavirus relief program. Greene also joined the conservative House Freedom Caucus, which endorsed and bolstered his candidacy.
McCarthy has urged lawmakers and the media to give Greene a chance and has previously had private conversations with her in an attempt to contain some of her more extreme rhetoric. Greene ended up denouncing QAnon, although he had previously embraced some of the movement’s far-right conspiracy theories.
And in recent days, Greene has cleaned up her social media pages of past offensive remarks – a sign that she is doing some damage control even as she responds to criticism of her past comments.
But with Democrats stepping up their efforts to punish Greene, McCarthy now finds himself in a dilemma. The GOP leader has shown his willingness to hold some lawmakers accountable who cross the line: In 2019, McCarthy stripped former Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) of his powers on the committee for asking why the term ” white nationalism ”was offensive. Still, King had a long history of inflammatory remarks, and it took him years to face any punishment. King also had few allies on the Hill; to the relief of many in the GOP, lost the last cycle re-election in a primary.
Greene was adopted by conservative extremists and Trump called her a “future Republican star.” McCarthy could face the heat from the right if he tried to discipline her. She is also unlikely to suffer the brunt of Republican leadership anytime soon, as the comments in question were made before she came to Congress. Additionally, other GOP members point out that such a move would only turn Greene into a martyr to the right.
Not everyone in the Republican Conference is on Greene’s side. First-year Rep Nancy Mace (RS.C.) called her in private conversations, while Rep Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) Said Greene’s rhetoric could spur further uprisings and the called it a “Republican in name only.”
“She might sound like this new definition of Republican, but it’s kind of a RINO thing,” Kinzinger said Thursday on CNN. “I don’t think she should have any committee privilege.
Democratic leaders, however, may be reluctant to crack down on Greene themselves. This could give Republicans a boost, who could retaliate with censorship resolutions and other punitive measures on their part. Instead, Pelosi tries to place the responsibility to act directly with the GOP.
Again, Democrats plan to use the GOP’s adoption of Greene as a campaign stake in 2022 by trying to tie the whole party to QAnon.
“Minority Leader McCarthy and NRCC Chairman Tom Emmer have not only caved in to the crowd and welcomed QAnon conspirator Marjorie Taylor Green into their caucus, they are putting her front and center as a key player,” DCCC spokeswoman Brooke Goren said. “Americans are dead at the hands of the QAnon Mafia, now the vulnerable Republicans in the House will have to answer for this violence.”
[ad_2]
Source link