The House will vote on Thursday on a resolution to deprive MP Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., Of her committee duties, Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said.
The move comes amid resounding criticism of Greene for a series of extreme remarks she made prior to winning her Congress seat and increasing pressure on Republican leaders to reprimand or condemn these comments.
Kevin McCarthy, R-California minority chairman of the House of Representatives, met with Greene in his Capitol building Tuesday night. He made no immediate comment after the discussion.
“I spoke to Leader McCarthy this morning and it is clear that there is no alternative but to have a vote on the decision to remove Rep. Greene from her committee duties,” Hoyer, D-Md., Said in a statement on April 19, 2010 Wednesday.
“The regulatory committee will meet this afternoon and the House will vote on the resolution tomorrow,” said Hoyer.
McCarthy had suggested to Hoyer that Republicans Greene resign from the Education and Labor Committee if she could stick to her budget committee mandate, a source knowledgeable told NBC News. Hoyer apparently turned down this deal, which would have avoided a vote on the floor of the house.
Greene’s assignment to the Education Committee has proven more controversial amid reports that she mocked a survivor of the school shooting, suggesting that other shootings were jokes.
Greene and McCarthy spokespersons did not immediately respond to CNBC’s request for comment on the upcoming vote.
Greene, who won her seat in the House of Representatives after running unopposed in the Georgia 14th Congressional District, has long received wide scrutiny and conviction for promoting an extensive list of conspiracy theories.
Greene has historically expressed support for the baseless Qanon conspiracy, which alleges that former President Donald Trump was embroiled in a secret battle against a cabal of “deep state” political and media criminals. She recently came under fire after a CNN report revealed her Facebook page liked multiple comments calling for the execution of prominent Democrats, including House spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif.
Media also reported that Greene suspected in 2018 that forest fires in California might have been caused by laser beams.
Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., Condemned Greene’s “crazy lies and conspiracy theories” this week, calling them “cancer for the Republican Party and our country.”
But many Republicans have remained silent about Greene or withheld judgment about her possible expulsion from the congressional committees.
Senator Lindsey Graham tweeted earlier Wednesday that Greene’s “alleged comments on various subjects” would be “troubling” if they accurately reflected her current views. But “the most important thing for me is to understand what Rep. Greene believes now and in the past,” tweeted Graham, urging her to correct the record “if it needs to be corrected.”
Meanwhile, Greene has attacked the media during the latest wave of harmful stories about her.
“If @SpeakerPelosi were the leader of the minority, she would use every identity ploy in the book to defend her member,” Greene claimed on Twitter on Wednesday. “White, woman, woman, mother, Christian, conservative, business owner […] Those are the reasons why they don’t want me at Ed & Labor. “
She previously warned that if Democrats attempt to excise them from House committees, “I can assure you that the precedent they are setting will be used extensively against members on their side once we regain a majority after the 2022 elections.” “
Some Republicans have already taken steps in this direction. Republican lawmakers tabled an amendment this week to oust Minnesota Democratic MP Ilhan Omar from their committees, accusing them of making anti-Semitic comments.
Omar, one of the first Muslim women to serve in Congress, said in a statement that these efforts are “a desperate smear based on racism, misogyny and Islamophobia”.
“Republicans will do everything possible to distract from the fact that they have not only admitted members of their own caucus but also increased those encouraging violence,” Omar said.
