The freshman Republican from Georgia drew the rage from the entire Democratic bench in the House even before she was elected in November. But that rage has gotten much more intense in recent days, after CNN and Media Matters revealed Facebook posts in which Greene spread lies that Sandy Hook and other lethal school shootings were staged. Another post showed Greene repeatedly endorsed the execution of leading Democrats – including Pelosi herself – in 2018 and 2019.
Pelosi on Thursday signaled that she is placing the responsibility directly on House minority leader Kevin McCarthy to act, who said through a spokesman that he plans to have a “conversation” with Greene about his “disturbing” comments. But so far, there is no sign that the California Republican has any intention of depriving her of newly assigned committee seats – even if at least one member of the Republican Party conference publicly demands that McCarthy take this step.
Greene’s office said she has no plans to resign, citing the strong and continued support of her constituents at home.
Greene’s fate is fueling tensions across the House, which remains on the edge just three weeks after the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. Many Democrats say they are still shaken by the potential role of Republican Party members in that attack, including Greene, who helped lead the attack in a failed attempt to overturn the results of the 2020 election and was held responsible. even by some republicans for helping to incite insurrection. The House accused former President Donald Trump of inciting the crowd that invaded the Capitol.
Leading Democrats, including Pelosi, said that the roles of Republican lawmakers in the riot are being investigated and that members could face consequences if the federal police discover that they were, in fact, involved in some planning.
“The enemy is inside the House of Representatives,” said Pelosi. “We have members of Congress who want to bring weapons to the ground and threaten violence against other members.”
In a sign of palpable anger towards 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 about shootings in schools.
“The minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy, must explain how someone with that background represents the Republican Party in matters of education,” Scott wrote in a forceful statement on Thursday.
Some Democrats are not waiting for Republican Party leaders to act. Representative Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) Is presenting a resolution to expel Greene from Congress, which would require the support of two-thirds of the House. And Congresswoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-Fla.) Is preparing legislation to expel Greene from her committees if she is allowed to stay. Although expulsion is unlikely, Democrats are not ruling out additional measures against Greene.
“She shouldn’t have a public platform to spread dangerous lies,” said Rep. Ted Deutch (D-Fla.), Chairman of the House Ethics Committee representing Parkland, Florida, where teenagers were shot dead at a school. medium in 2018. Greene was also seen in a video harassing a survivor of that shooting in a January 2019 video that recently resurfaced.
“Not on a House Committee. Not as a member of Congress, ”said Deutch.
The episode is just Greene’s last headache for Republican leaders. After POLITICO last summer discovered a treasure trove of racist Facebook videos she made, McCarthy and other leading Republicans rushed to condemn Greene, who was still running for Congress at the time.
But then, much to the frustration of many House Republicans, McCarthy did little to stop Greene from winning his primaries. She was then welcomed with open arms at the Republican Party Conference, winning seats on the Education panel, as well as on the House Budget Committee, which will play a key role if Democrats use reconciliation to approve another coronavirus aid package. Greene also joined conservative House Freedom Caucus, who endorsed and boosted his candidacy.
McCarthy asked lawmakers and the media to give Greene a chance, and has had private conversations with her in an attempt to contain his most extreme rhetoric. Greene ended up denouncing QAnon, despite having embraced some of the movement’s far-right conspiracy theories.
And for the past few days, Greene has been scrubbing her social media pages from previous offensive comments – a sign that she is doing some damage control, even when she counters criticism of her previous comments.
But with Democrats increasing their pressure to punish Greene, McCarthy is now in a dilemma. The Republican Party leader has shown that he is willing to hold some legislators who cross the line responsible: in 2019, McCarthy withdrew former deputy Steve King (R-Iowa) from his committee duties for questioning why the term “white nationalism” was offensive. Still, King had a long history of incendiary comments and it took years to face any punishment. King also had few allies on the Hill; to the relief of many in the GOP, he lost re-election in the last cycle in a primary.
Greene was embraced by hardline conservatives and Trump called her “future republican star”. McCarthy can face the heat on the right if he tries to discipline her. She is also unlikely to face the consequences of Republican leaders anytime soon, since the comments in question were made before her passage through Congress. Furthermore, others in the Republican Party claim that such a move would only turn Greene into a martyr on the right.
Not everyone at the Republican Conference is supporting Greene. Freshman MP Nancy Mace (RS.C.) called her in private conversations, while MP Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) Said that Greene’s rhetoric could incite more insurrections and called her “Republican in name only”.
“She may be like this new definition of Republican, but that is kind of a RINO thing,” Kinzinger told CNN on Thursday. “I don’t think she should have the privilege of any committees.”
Democratic leaders, however, may be reluctant to crack down on Greene. This can lead to a dispute between Republicans, who can fight back with censorship resolutions and other punitive measures of their own. Instead, Pelosi is trying to place the responsibility for acting directly with the GOP.
Still, Democrats are planning to use the Republican Party’s adoption of Greene as a campaign issue in 2022, trying to link the entire party to QAnon.
“McCarthy minority leader and NRCC president Tom Emmer not only gave in to the crowd and welcomed QAnon conspirator Marjorie Taylor Green in their caucus, they put her in front and center as a key player,” said DCCC spokesperson Brooke Goren. “Americans died at the hands of the QAnon crowd, now vulnerable House Republicans will have to answer for this violence.”