- Eleven House Republicans joined all Democrats on Thursday in voting to strip Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her two committee assignments.
- The measure was likely to pass with Democrats’ narrow House majority, though it was unclear how many Republicans would ultimately support the measure. Greene had already come under harsh criticism for her past rhetoric, some of which had been widely criticized as racist and anti-Semitic.
- While the final group included moderate Republicans like Michigan Rep. Fred Upton and Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, it included more conservative members and several freshman lawmakers as well.
Eleven House Republicans joined all Democrats on Thursday in voting to strip Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her two committee assignments.
The measure was likely to pass with Democrats’ narrow House majority, though it was unclear how many Republicans would ultimately support the measure. Democrats announced that they would force the vote to remove Greene from the Education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee on Wednesday in response to unearthed videos that showed Greene harassing David Hogg, a Parkland shooting survivor.
Greene had already come under harsh criticism for her past rhetoric, some of which had been widely criticized as racist and anti-Semitic. She also had previously spoken in support of the baseless QAnon conspiracy, though she acknowledged that she was wrong to do so in a speech on the House Floor on Thursday. (RELATED: McConnell Sounds Off On Marjorie Taylor Greene)
While the final group included moderate Republicans like Michigan Rep. Fred Upton and Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, it included more conservative members and several freshman lawmakers as well.
Nicole Malliotakis
New York Rep. Nicole Malliotakis was one of three New York Republicans who voted to strip Greene of her committees. The freshman congresswoman from Staten Island said that she voted the way she did in response to Greene’s past comments regarding 9/11, where she questioned whether a plane actually hit the Pentagon.
“Past comments made and endorsed Congresswoman Greene are deeply disturbing and extraordinarily offensive and hurtful to the thousands of 9/11 families and first responders, our Jewish community and many others in my district,” she said in a statement following the vote. “As Americans, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard and fully condemn such comments regardless of which side of the aisle they came from.”
Malliotakis added that she would be “consistent” in her condemnation of offensive comments and that she was waiting for resolutions to remove California Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell from the House Intelligence Committee over his unknowing ties to a Chinese spy and to remove Minnesota Democratic Rep. Ilhan Omar from the House Foreign Affairs Committee over past comments that were widely regarded as anti-Semitic as well.
Congresswoman-elect Nicole Malliotakis (R-NY) arrives at the U.S. Capitol on November 13, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Samuel Corum/Getty Images)
John Katko
New York Rep. John Katko was one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach former President Donald Trump in January, and did not immediately offer a statement outlining his decision to strip Greene of her committees.
The moderate Republican has long been a target for Democrats looking to pick up his swing district. While Katko won reelection by just over 10 points in November, he outperformed Trump by 19 points.
Chris Jacobs
New York Rep. Chris Jacobs joined Malliotakis as the other GOP freshman from New York who voted to remove Greene from her committees, saying in a statement following his vote that he was “very troubled by a number of Rep. Greene’s statements and assertions.”
“As someone who has spent over 25 years fighting for children and increased educational opportunity, I was particularly shocked by the video of Rep. Greene harassing a survivor of the Parkland school shooting,” Jacobs added, noting that he hoped that the vote would hold all members of Congress to the “same high standard of civility and decency.”
Mario Diaz-Balart
Florida Rep. Diaz-Balart, a veteran Republican from South Florida, called Greene’s comments “unacceptable” in a statement explaining his vote. However, he also noted that he has consistently called for other members, including Omar and California Democratic Rep. Maxine Waters, to be stripped of their committees over their previous remarks as well.
Carlos Giménez
Florida Rep. Carlos Giménez, the former mayor of Miami, said that Greene’s “comments and intent to spread lies and conspiracies must not be tolerated,” singling out her accosting of school shooting survivors and comments surround the Parkland shooting.
He also called for House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to address previous comments by members of her caucus, adding that he looked forward to “my colleagues across the aisle applying this standard to all Members of Congress.”
Maria Elvira Salazar
Florida Rep. Maria Elvira Salazar, a freshman lawmaker whose district includes the Everglades and the Florida Keys, released a statement echoing her former colleagues.
“I had to hold Marjorie Taylor Greene accountable for her denial of the Parkland Massacre, the Flight 77 crash, and accusing a Jewish family of starting the California wildfires,” Salazar said, adding that she would also hold every Democrat to the standard they created.
Fred Upton
Michigan Rep. Fred Upton, a moderate Republican who has served in Congress since 1987, did not immediately comment on his vote.
Upton also voted to impeach Trump in January, and was of four House Republicans who voted to condemn Trump’s comments towards four Democratic lawmakers of color in 2019.
Brian Fitzpatrick
Pennsylvania Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick also did not immediately issue a statement regarding his vote. The moderate Republican won reelection in his suburban Philadelphia district in November by 13 points, despite Biden vastly over-performing Trump in the region.
Adam Kinzinger
Illinois Rep. Adam Kinzinger, who has been one of the most outspoken critics of Trump and members of his own party and voted to impeach Trump last month, first said that he would vote to strip Greene of her committees on Thursday morning.
He stood by his vote on Friday morning, accusing Greene of having “no remorse” for the comments she made. (RELATED: ‘She’s Not A Republican’: Kinzinger Blasts Marjorie Taylor Greene)
Rep. Adam Kinzinger questions witnesses during a House Committee on Foreign Affairs hearing looking into the firing of State Department Inspector General Steven Linick, on Capitol Hill on September 16, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images)
Young Kim
California Rep. Young Kim, who was elected in Orange County, said that Greene’s “comments and actions, from spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories to questioning 9/11 and school shootings, are wrong in any context,” in a statement on Thursday.
She also said that she hoped that Democrats would act the same way regarding their members who have made controversial comments in the past, adding that she hoped that Congress could soon come together for the good of the country.
Chris Smith
New Jersey Rep. Chris Smith also did not immediately comment on his vote but has long worked to combat anti-Semitism throughout his multi-decade congressional career.
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