The Democrat-run House Rules Committee on Wednesday pushed forward a resolution to strip Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of committee seats after Republican leaders refused to punish the QAnon-supporting lawmaker.
The House is expected to vote Thursday on the unprecedented resolution.
If the resolution passes, it would remove the Georgia Republican from her seats on the Budget Committee and the Education and Labor Committee.
Democrats say the freshman member of Congress called for violence against lawmakers and has supported conspiracy theories such as QAnon, calling the 9-11 attack a hoax and saying school shooting victims are crisis actors.
Ms. Greene has come under intense fire from memes of both parties over her embrace of QAnon and the incendiary comments she made before getting elected to represent Georgia’s 14th Congressional District.
“It is not about canceling anybody with a different political belief. It is about accountability,” said Rep. James McGovern, Massachusetts Democrat, who chairs the Rules Committee. “If this isn’t the bottom line, I don’t know where the hell the bottom line is.”
GOP lawmakers, though, said it is unfair to hold her accountable for comments she made before taking office, but not hold Democratic members of Congress accountable for anti-semitic comments they made while serving in the chamber.
The comparison was aimed at Rep. Ilhan Omar, Minnesota Democrat, who made comments critical of Israel, which forced the House to vote on a resolution condemning anti-semitism in 2019.
“We are trying to say what is good for the goose is good for the gander, but maybe what should happen is you let Republicans take care of our own and you Democrats take care of your own,” Rep. Andy Biggs, Arizona Republican, told Fox News.
Rep. Tom Cole of Oklahoma, the top Republican on the Rules Committee, said Ms. Greene’s comments were “repugnant” but that the Ethics Committee could probe the issue rather than having the Democratic majority take it up.
“This hearing is premature,” he said Wednesday. “All I am saying is I would like some process to do that.”
• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.
• Alex Swoyer can be reached at aswoyer@washingtontimes.com.
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