A group of House Republicans are deliberating on whether to remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from committees.
The possible removal of Rep. Greene from committees will be a form of punishment by House Republicans for her controversial statements prior to winning a seat in Congress. This comes after several Senate Republicans criticized the Georgia congresswoman.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy met with Greene for several hours at the Capitol and summoned the Steering Committee for a late-night meeting regarding her committee assignments.
The GOP steering panel is capable of stripping committee posts from Republican House members but the committee did not make a decision as of Tuesday night. Committee officials said they will meet again on Wednesday to see if they can decide on the matter.
Greene did not meet with the GOP Steering Committee.
According to two officials with direct knowledge of the meeting, McCarthy gave no indication that Greene showed any remorse or contrition for her comments when he relayed how his meeting with the Georgia congresswoman went.
Some GOP members believe that Greene should be taken off her two committees but there was a concern regarding punishing party members for things they did before being elected.
When asked if they have made a decision regarding Greene, House Minority Whip Steve Scalise: "No, we're going to be working through some things."
What did Greene do?
Last week, the Georgia representative received tremendous criticism after a CNN KFile report revealed that she had repeatedly indicated support for executing prominent Democratic politicians in 2018 and 2019 prior to her election.
Greene liked a comment in a January 2019 post which said “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to remove House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. She also liked comments about executing FBI agents who she deems to be part of the “deep state” working against Trump.
Aside from her track record of incendiary rhetoric, such as Islamophobic and anti-Semitic comments, the congresswoman is also known for her links to the QAnon conspiracy theory. A 2018 video also recently resurfaced, showing Greene confronting Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg.
In Mid-January, Twitter temporarily suspended the account of Greene for repeatedly violating its new rules.
A Twitter spokesperson said that the account of Greene, US Representative for Georgia’s 14th congressional district, was temporarily suspended for repeated violations of rules implemented following the Capitol riots.
The Twitter spokesperson explained: “The account referenced has been temporarily locked out for multiple violations of our civic integrity policy.”
Rep. Greene’s account was suspended after she tweeted a conspiracy-laden thread about the Georgia Senate elections. Some of her tweets received warning labels on the platform, which read: “This claim about election fraud is disputed, and this Tweet can’t be replied to, Retweeted, or liked due to a risk of violence.”
McConnell's take
Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell has admonished Rep. Greene, calling her views cancer for the Republican Party.
While Sen. McConnell did not directly name controversial Rep. Greene, his statements slammed the Georgia Republican’s “loony lies and conspiracy theories” as a “cancer” for the Republican Party.
McConnell said: “Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country. Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality. This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party.”
In response to McConnell’s statements, Greene tweeted that “the real cancer for the Republican Party is weak Republicans who only know how to lose gracefully. This is why we are losing our country.”
