Republican Lawmakers Strike Back, Seek to Remove Controversial Democrat from Committees
As Democrats attempt to remove embattled Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green of Georgia from her committee assignments due to her past comments, a group of House Republicans are proposing that Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota should instead be the one removed from a committee for her comments while she was a member of Congress.
Greene emerged as even more of a target for Democrats in recent days after past comments were unearthed in which she reportedly expressed support for a conspiracy theory about the Sandy Hook school shooting and condoned violent rhetoric aimed at Democratic lawmakers.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said last week that given those comments, Greene did not belong on the House Education and Labor Committee.
Since then, Democrats have drafted a resolution to boot Greene from her assignments on the Education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee.
But Republican Rep. Brian Babin of Texas said that if anyone deserves to pay for what she said, it is Omar.
“If the Democrat Majority wants to go down this road, they should start by dealing with their own members who have been at this before and AFTER their election to Congress,” he tweeted, listing comments Omar has made.
Yes. If the Democrat Majority wants to go down this road, they should start by dealing with their own members who have been at this before and AFTER their election to Congress. https://t.co/YIRhoNOf8L pic.twitter.com/r0yBN2aGFx
— Brian Babin (@RepBrianBabin) February 3, 2021
To that end, Babin has prepared an amendment to the resolution that targets Greene.
The original resolution said Greene should be stripped of her committee assignments “in light of conduct she has exhibited.” But the tersely worded amendment calls for replacing Greene’s name with Omar’s.
“In the second whereas clause strike ‘Marjorie Taylor Greene’ and insert ‘Ilhan Omar’. In the resolving clause strike ‘Mrs. Greene of Georgia’ each place it appears and insert ‘Ms. Omar of Minnesota’ and strike ‘COMMITTEE ON THE BUDGET’ and insert ‘COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN AFFAIRS’,” the amendment reads.
The measure has the support of Republican Reps. Jeff Duncan of South Carolina, Jody Hice of Georgia, Andy Biggs of Arizona and Ronny Jackson of Texas, Fox News reported.
“The Democrats’ moves to strip Congresswoman Greene of her committee assignments for thoughts & opinions she shared as a private citizen before coming to the House is unprecedented and unconstitutional, & these steps are a dangerous slope for our nation,” Biggs tweeted.
All self-righteous Republicans beware: if this can happen to Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, it can happen to anyone of us.
— Rep Andy Biggs (@RepAndyBiggsAZ) February 3, 2021
CNN reported that Greene met with House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Tuesday night to discuss the Democratic attempt to punish her and the discomfort some in the Republican ranks have felt over her comments.
According to the report, Greene was not willing to make a public apology for the comments.
Some Republicans have characterized taking action against Greene as a watershed moment for the party.
“Do they want to be the party of limited government and fiscal responsibility, free markets, peace through strength and pro-life or do they want to be the party of conspiracy theories and QAnon,” Republican Sen. John Thune of South Dakota told CNN. “I think that is the decision they’ve got to face. It’s a big distraction for them right now and not in a good way.”
According to Omar’s website, she is a member of the House Budget Committee and the House Foreign Affairs Committee, where she serves on the Subcommittee on Africa, Global Health, Global Human Rights and International Organizations and the Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations.
She also serves on the House Education and Labor Committee, where she is a member of the Subcommittee on Higher Education and Workforce Development and the Subcommittee on Workforce Protections.
In 2019, responding to a tweet regarding McCarthy’s plan to take “action” against her over a prior anti-Semitism controversy, Omar wrote, “It’s all about the Benjamins baby.”
She has also claimed that legislators were influenced to support Israel by campaign cash from the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.
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