WASHINGTON (AP) – House Republicans will be forced to go officially, defending or rebuking Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, which attracted bipartisan condemnation for its adoption of far-right conspiracy theories, as well as its endorsement prior to violence against Democrats.
The politically agonizing vote expected on Thursday, which will determine whether the Georgia Republican will be stripped of her duties on the committee, highlights tension over the best political path that has divided the party since Donald Trump lost the White House.
Democrats issued an ultimatum earlier in the week, telling House Republicans to take Greene out of his committee duties – or they would. Bipartisan pressure created after Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell called Greene’s “crazy lies” a “cancer” for the party.
But House minority leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., Dismissed the lawsuit on Wednesday. Instead, he accused Democrats of a “party seizure” for targeting Greene, who once suggested that a Jewish-owned financial firm may have been involved in a plot to set California forest fires using a space laser. .
“If this isn’t the bottom, I don’t know what the hell it is,” said House Rules Committee chairman Jim McGovern, D-Mass., Before a resolution was sent to the House floor to remove Greene from office. .
McCarthy’s decision to support Greene comes at a time when the party was ideologically adrift after the loss of Trump, struggling to decide whether to embrace its anti-norm division or the more traditional and policy-oriented conservative values of the Republican Party .
On Wednesday, House Republicans blocked an effort by hardline conservatives to take House’s third Republican, MP Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., Out of her leadership role. Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, angered Trump supporters by voting for impeachment him about the riot at the US Capitol.
In defending the two women, McCarthy was trying to placate both conservatives and traditional populists, like Greene, who imitate Trump. The moves were typical of McCarthy’s preference to avoid chills as he plots his way to one day becoming a speaker in the House.
“Do you know what that means?” he told reporters on Wednesday night. “Two years from now, we will win the majority. This is because this conference is more united. We have the right leadership team behind this. “
But the Republican Party wards remain concerned that the other is leading them astray and, for some, Wednesday’s outcome seemed more of an uncomfortable truce than a total peace treaty.
“This is about the direction of our party and whether or not we are going to be a majority dedicated to just one person or we are going to be a united Republican majority,” said Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler, R- Wash., Who with Cheney was only among 10 House Republicans to support Trump’s impeachment.
Greene has shown support for calls for violence against Democrats, bizarre fictions about fake school shootings, and QAnon’s baseless theories about Democrats participating in child abuse circles.
The conspiracy theories she embraced emerged during a closed-door Republican party meeting on Wednesday, which participants described as excited by long lines of loudspeakers on microphones. Some said that Greene apologized to colleagues, although there were conflicting and vague versions of what she had said exactly.
“She was sorry. And I think she brought a lot of people to her side, ”said conservative Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky.
This is at odds with statements she made in recent weeks on Twitter, where she vowed never to back down or apologize and label her critics as traitors, while using the Democratic impulse to punish her in order to raise money for her campaign.
Democrats say it is politically advantageous to tie some Republicans to Greene’s far right. This week, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee launched a $ 500,000 ad campaign that tries to link eight Republicans to it and other QAnon supporters, which focuses on the false belief that top Democrats are involved in child sex trafficking and cannibalism.
McCarthy condemned Greene’s previous endorsements to conspiracy theories – after weeks without criticizing her – and said the first-time Congresswoman acknowledged in a private conversation that she must meet “a higher standard” as a legislator.
“I keep it in its word, as well as in its actions going forward,” said McCarthy.
It erupted on the national political scene with Trump’s enthusiastic support.
Republicans appointed Greene to the Education and Work Committee, a decision that drew particularly harsh criticism because of his suggestions that school shootings in Connecticut and Florida could be fraud. Greene is also on the Budget Committee.
McCarthy said Democrats declined his offer to transfer Greene to the House’s Small Business Committee.
It is unusual for party leaders to remove legislators from committee assignments, which can help them meet the needs of their district and increase campaign contributions.
In 2019, Republican leaders in the House removed Congressman Steve King, R-Iowa, who had a history of racist comments from the Agriculture and Judiciary panels after asking himself aloud in a New York Times story about when the term “white supremacy” has become offensive. He lost Republican primaries to his seat in 2020 and is out of Congress after serving nine terms.
In online videos and through “likes” of support on social media, Greene expressed support for racist beliefs, calls for violence against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and former President Barack Obama and several false theories.