House to hold vote on removing Greene from her committee assignments

 

The House will vote on stripping Marjorie Taylor Greene of committee roles as G.O.P. weighs her future.

 

The House will vote on Thursday to strip Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments, a top Democrat announced, forcing congressional Republicans to take a public stand on the Georgia freshman who endorsed conspiracy theories and calls to execute Democratic politicians before she was elected.

https://www.nytimes.com/live/2021/02/03/us/biden-administration

 

Representative Steny Hoyer of Maryland, the No. 2 Democrat, said on Wednesday that he had spoken with Representative Kevin McCarthy of California, the Republican leader, and that “it is clear there is no alternative to holding a floor vote on the resolution to remove Representative Greene from her committee assignments.”

 

House Democrats, incensed by a series of social media posts made by Ms. Greene before she won her seat in November, threatened earlier this week that they would take the unusual step of moving unilaterally to remove Ms. Greene from the education and budget committees if Republicans themselves did not take action. Party leaders generally have authority over who represents them on committees.

 

The vote will make Republicans go on the record for the first time on whether Ms. Greene should be rebuked for her past comments.

 

While most Republican lawmakers have privately been horrified by her rhetoric, some have argued that members of Congress should not face punishment for remarks they made before they were elected, and that allowing one party (in this case, Democrats) to take unilateral action against a lawmaker in another party would set a dangerous precedent. Others are wary of taking a such a vote after former President Donald J. Trump has rallied to Ms. Greene’s side.

 

Mr. McCarthy met with Ms. Greene on Tuesday night in his office to discuss her past rhetoric and the calls from members of both parties to take her off committees. Mr. McCarthy then met with a group of Republicans who control the conference’s committee assignments, but no decision was ultimately made about whether or how to rebuke Ms. Greene, according to people familiar with the discussions.

 

A spokesman for Mr. McCarthy declined to respond to Mr. Hoyer’s announcement, and said that the Republican leader would “address this with members later today.”

 

Mr. Hoyer’s announcement comes hours before House Republicans will meet Wednesday at 4 p.m. to discuss the future of Representative Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the No. 3 Republican in the chamber. They are also expected to discuss the turmoil around Ms. Greene

 

Supporters of Mr. Trump want to strip Ms. Cheney of her leadership post as payback for her vote to impeach the former president. And an array of House and Senate Republicans and Trump critics want to strip Ms. Greene of her committee assignments for endorsing false claims and using bigoted and violent language.

 

Ms. Greene’s behavior poses the more serious test for Republicans because her behavior is so outside the mainstream of American politics. The House Republican meeting will be a turning point for the party as members grapple with how to deal with two lawmakers who have incensed different wings of the party for very different reasons.

 

— Catie Edmondson

39m ago

17:13

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/live/2021/feb/03/joe-biden-donald-trump-impeachment-covid-coronavirus-republicans-marjorie-taylor-greene-live-updates

 

House to hold vote on removing Greene from her committee assignments

 

The House will hold a vote tomorrow on removing Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia congresswoman who has voiced support for the anti-Semitic conspiracy theory QAnon, from her committee assignments.

 

The House majority leader, Steny Hoyer, just announced the planned vote in a tweet.

 

“I spoke to Leader McCarthy this morning, and it is clear there is no alternative to holding a Floor vote on the resolution to remove Rep. Greene from her committee assignments,” Hoyer said.

 

“The Rules Committee will meet this afternoon, and the House will vote on the resolution tomorrow.”

 

Greene has come under increasing scrutiny as recent reports have shed more light on her racist and fringe beliefs. A number of Democratic lawmakers have called on Greene to resign, but she has insisted she will remain in office.