THEJUBAMIRROR
The House voted Thursday evening to remove Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments, a decisive step that comes in the wake of recently unearthed incendiary and violent past statements from the congresswoman that have triggered widespread backlash from Democrats and divided congressional Republicans.
The vote tally was 230-199 with 11 Republican House members voting with Democrats to remove Greene from her committee assignments.
House Democrats, who control the chamber, set up the vote after first attempting to pressure Republicans to strip the Georgia Republican of committee assignments on their own. House Republicans did not take that action, however, and House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday released a statement calling the push by Democrats to take away the congresswoman’s committee assignments a “partisan power grab.”
Greene defended herself ahead of the vote in a speech on the House floor and attempted to distance herself from the dangerous and debunked QAnon conspiracy theory, which she has previously embraced.
The congresswoman said that after “seeing things in the news that didn’t make sense to me,” she “stumbled across” QAnon at the end of 2017.
Greene said that she became “very interested” in the conspiracy theory and began posting about it on Facebook and talking about it, adding that throughout 2018 she was “upset about things” and felt she could not trust the government.
11 Republicans voted to remove Greene from committee assignments
These 11 House Republicans joined House Democrats in voting to remove Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (GA-14) from the Education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee for her incendiary and violent past statements. Three of the Republicans — Katko, Kinzinger and Upton — also voted to impeach then-President Donald Trump in January.
“The problem with that is though is I was allowed to believe things that weren’t true, and I would ask questions about them and talk about them, and that is absolutely what I regret,” she said.
Greene also said that she believes “9/11 absolutely happened” and “school shootings are absolutely real and every child that is lost, those families mourn it.”
In an attempt to put the controversy behind her, the congresswoman said, “These were words of the past, and these things do not represent me. They do not represent my district, and they do not represent my values.”
The measure approved by the House directs Greene’s removal from the House Education and Labor Committee and Budget Committee “in light of conduct she has exhibited.”
The move could set a risky precedent as Democrats target a sitting member of the opposing party in Congress over views expressed prior to her serving as an elected official — one that has the potential to someday be used against the party by Republicans.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted on Thursday, however, that she has no concerns about the precedent it could set.
“The problem with that is though is I was allowed to believe things that weren’t true, and I would ask questions about them and talk about them, and that is absolutely what I regret,” she said.
Greene also said that she believes “9/11 absolutely happened” and “school shootings are absolutely real and every child that is lost, those families mourn it.”
In an attempt to put the controversy behind her, the congresswoman said, “These were words of the past, and these things do not represent me. They do not represent my district, and they do not represent my values.”
The measure approved by the House directs Greene’s removal from the House Education and Labor Committee and Budget Committee “in light of conduct she has exhibited.”
The move could set a risky precedent as Democrats target a sitting member of the opposing party in Congress over views expressed prior to her serving as an elected official — one that has the potential to someday be used against the party by Republicans.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi insisted on Thursday, however, that she has no concerns about the precedent it could set.
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