By Richard Cowan
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – At the last sign of rising tensions in the United States Congress, a Democratic Congresswoman said on Friday that she plans to relocate her Capitol office for security reasons after being “rebuked” by a conservative Republican Congresswoman.
Democrat Cori Bush, an ordained minister in Missouri, described the clashes with Georgia’s Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene, whose office is located next to Bush’s in one of the House of Representatives’ three large buildings. Both are full members of the House who took office this month.
The incidents are further evidence of disagreement between lawmakers after a January 6 riot in which supporters of former Republican President Donald Trump invaded the Capitol, interrupting President Joe Biden’s formal certification of electoral victory and killing five people.
Bush wrote on Twitter that he is relocating after Greene “scolded me in a hallway” and “came up behind me, tall and without a mask”. Public health experts recommended masks to help stem the spread of COVID-19.
Greene accused Bush of “lying” about the issue and on Twitter called Bush, who is black, “the leader of the St. Louis terrorist mafia Black Lives Matter”. Greene is white.
The non-governmental Republican Jewish Coalition said it was working with the House Republican leadership “on the next steps in this matter”, but gave no further details.
In a statement, the organization said it worked against Greene’s election in 2020 because she “promoted bizarre political conspiracy theories” and posed for pictures with a white supremacist leader and “refused to admit a mistake” in doing so.
Greene gained national attention for the first time for his interest in the QAnon conspiracy theory, which falsely claims that high-profile Democrats are part of a child pedophilia network. CNN reported that before coming to Congress, Greene expressed support for the execution of Democrats, including Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Greene also promoted Trump’s false claims that he won the November election.
Pelosi said on Thursday that new security measures may be needed “when the enemy is inside the House of Representatives”.
Republican House leader Kevin McCarthy is under pressure to take action against Greene and said he would have a “conversation” with her. A McCarthy aide called Greene’s comments on the death of Democrats “deeply disturbing.”
House No. 2 Republican Steve Scalise, who was seriously injured in 2017 when a sniper opened fire on Republican lawmakers in Virginia, added that “there is no place for comments” like those made by Greene.
Separately, first-time Republican Congresswoman Lauren Boebert was warned this month by law enforcement officials that she would face criminal penalties if she carried a firearm illegally. Boebert promised to load his Glock pistol on the Capitol.
Boebert also scoffed at an arms control activist who survived a deadly shooting in 2018 at a school in Parkland, Florida.
(Reporting by Richard Cowan; Editing by Andy Sullivan and Alistair Bell)