Dems to vote on ousting Rep. Greene from panels
WASHINGTON — A top Democrat said the House will vote Thursday on removing Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committees, intensifying the stakes over the Georgia Republican’s online embrace of conspiracy theories and violent racist views.
The announcement by No. 2 House Democrat Steny Hoyer of Maryland came Wednesday as showdowns approached over Greene and Rep. Liz Cheney, who’ve antagonized opposing wings of a Republican Party struggling to define itself without Donald Trump in the White House.
House Republicans, under bipartisan pressure to punish Greene, have been hoping to take action on their own — such as removing her from one committee — and avoid a difficult political vote for many in the GOP.
But Hoyer released a statement saying that after speaking to House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Bakersfield, whose district includes much of the Antelope Valley, “it is clear there is no alternative to holding a floor vote on the resolution to remove Rep. Greene from her committee assignments.”
McCarthy, in a statement, condemned Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s open embrace of conspiratorial theories and racist views but criticized a drive by Democrats to remove her from her committees, signaling he would not yield to a bipartisan outcry to punish her.
Taken together, the comments intensified the stakes over Greene’s online embrace of conspiracy theories and calls for violence against Democratic politicians.
Greene isn’t the only Republican House member under fire. Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney is facing blowback for her decision last month to vote to impeach President Donald Trump, and some Republicans want her to lose her leadership position.
Greene herself was showing little sign of backing down. “No matter what @GOPLeader does it would never be enough for the hate America Democrats,” she tweeted early Wednesday. She has previously spread unfounded QAnon proTrump conspiracy theories and calls for violence against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. Republicans had appointed Greene to the Education and Labor Committee, a decision that drew especially harsh criticism because of her suggestions that school shootings in Connecticut and Florida could be hoaxes. She’s also on the Budget Committee.