House Democrats plan to make their Republican colleagues go on the record about whether Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) should stay in the House as a member in good standing, with seats on the budget and education committees.
Greene is scrubbing her social media history of incendiary posts, but plenty has already been unearthed this week. The latest is a 2018 Facebook post in which Greene suggested, as New York's Jonathan Chait paraphrases, that deadly "California wildfires were intentionally set by a Jewish space laser." Greene has also said school mass shootings were faked, and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) — one of the several prominent Democrats whose killing Greene appears to have endorsed — used Greene's Sandy Hook hoax comments to slam House GOP leaders.
"Assigning her to the education committee, when she has mocked the killing of little children," Pelosi said Thursday. "What could they be thinking — or is thinking too generous a word for what they might be doing?" Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-Calif.) said he will introduce a privileged resolution to expel Greene, ensuring it a floor vote as early as next week.
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"Expulsion would require two-thirds support in the House, making it highly unlikely that it will succeed," Politico says. "Still, it will force every single lawmaker, including members of GOP leadership, to go on the record when it comes to Greene." Meanwhile, her fate "is fueling tensions throughout the House" three weeks after the Jan. 6 assault, Politico notes. "Many Democrats say they are still rattled by the potential role of GOP members in that attack, including Greene," who "has been blamed even by some Republicans for helping to incite the insurrection."
"The enemy is within the House of Representatives," Pelosi said Thursday. "We have members of Congress who want to bring guns on the floor and have threatened violence against other members." Some House Democrats, The Washington Post reports, "have bought bulletproof vests and are seeking other protections."
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) "has long struggled with how to address Greene, highlighting the current predicament for House GOP leaders, whose party attracts an increasingly virulent anti-establishment, conspiratorial base," the Post reports. He had, and blew, his chance last summer, Axios reports, when he and his leadership team "discussed — but then largely set aside — fears that" the "QAnon-supporting" Greene "would end up a flaming trainwreck for their party."
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