January 28, 2021 09:53 AM UTC

Bill Introduced To Expel Qaucus Chair Marjorie Taylor Greene

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• by: Colorado Pols

Politico reports on the latest in the ongoing controversy over the new Republican “Qaucus” in the U.S. House, led by freshman Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Lauren Boebert of Rifle, Colorado–a resolution introduced yesterday seeking to expel Rep. MTG from the House after damning past statements and social media activity resurfaced in recent days:

A two-thirds majority is required to expel a member from the House, meaning Gomez’s resolution is almost certain to fail in a chamber where Democrats hold a razor-thin majority. Still, the measure is one of the starkest rebukes yet against the congresswoman, who has antagonized her peers by flouting coronavirus guidelines and has garnered national attention for engaging in the QAnon conspiracy theory. She has also denied the Parkland school shooting, and was filmed spreading racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic comments, prompting condemnation from the leadership of her own party.

CNN on Tuesday unveiled a series of Greene’s past social media posts from as recently as 2019 that called for executing Democrats and federal law enforcement officers. In one comment, she said that “a bullet to the head would be quicker” to get rid of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.

In a statement, Rep. Jimmy Gomez demanded that GOP leadership intervene:

“As if it weren’t enough to amplify conspiracy theories that the September 11 attacks were an inside job and the mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was staged, a string of recent media reports has now confirmed that Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene had previously supported social media posts calling for political violence against the Speaker of the House, members of Congress, and former President Barack Obama,” said Congressman Gomez.

“Such advocacy for extremism and sedition not only demands her immediate expulsion from Congress, but it also merits strong and clear condemnation from all of her Republican colleagues, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell. Her very presence in office represents a direct threat against the elected officials and staff who serve our government, and it is with their safety in mind, as well as the security of institutions and public servants across our country, that I call on my House colleagues to support my resolution to immediately remove Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from this legislative body.”

The growing outrage over MTG’s history of threatening Democrats with violence and stalking mass shooting survivors does not appear to have fazed House Republican leadership. Yesterday, MTG was appointed to the House Education Committee, eliciting this angry response from the Democratic chair:

Rep. Bobby Scott, D-Va., wants Republican leaders to reverse course and rescind the decision to put Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., on the House Education and Labor Committee. Scott is using as his reason Greene’s past support for baseless claims that the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Fla., was a “false flag” operation, and that other school shootings were somehow staged.

“House Republicans have appointed someone to this Committee who claimed that the killing of 14 students and three teachers at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School was staged,” Scott said in a Thursday statement.

The appointment by GOP House leadership of a high-profile school shooting denialist to the House Education Committee is a legitimate shock to the conscience, and stands in marked contrast to the removal of now ex-Rep. Steve King of Iowa from all of his committee posts following comments he made celebrating white supremacy. In 2021, it does appear that whatever guardrails formerly existed within the GOP do not any longer.

Although MTG is making a strong case for the worst member of Congress in 2021, now blaming anonymous “teams” who supposedly ran her social media accounts for her threats against Democrats and other calls for violence, Rep. Boebert isn’t far behind. The principal difference between Boebert and MTG seems to be MTG’s much longer history as a fringe-right activist, providing so many examples of ludicrous/dangerous statements made freely on the record that it’s self-discrediting to deny them. Boebert has some catching up to do by comparison, working hard to be Robin to MTG’s Batman.

Or maybe, like the Highlander, “there can be only one?”

The one thing we can say is that without 60 GOP votes to expel, or GOP leadership with the backbone they showed just last year with Steve King, the MTG/Boebert “Qaucus” reign of terror isn’t going anywhere–at least until next primary season.