Skip to content Skip to search

Republish This Story

* Please read before republishing *

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free under an Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives Creative Commons license as long as you follow our republishing guidelines, which require that you credit The 19th and retain our pixel. See our full guidelines for more information.

To republish, simply copy the HTML at right, which includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to The 19th. Have questions? Please email [email protected].

— The Editors

Loading...

Modal Gallery

/
Sign up for our newsletter

Menu

  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships
    • From the Collection

      Changing Child Care

      Illustration of a woman feeding a baby a bottle
      • Washington, D.C., offers financial relief to local child care workers

        Orion Rummler · September 20
      • As climate change worsens hurricane season in Louisiana, doulas are ensuring parents can safely feed their babies

        Jessica Kutz · May 5
      • Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito argued abortion isn’t an economic issue. But is that true?

        Chabeli Carrazana · May 4
    • From the Collection

      Next-Gen GOP

      Illustration of a woman riding an elephant
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • A banner year for Republican women

        Amanda Becker · November 11
      • Republican women could double representation in the U.S. House

        Amanda Becker · November 4
    • From the Collection

      On The Rise

      Illustration of three women marching
      • Can Cheri Beasley build a winning coalition in North Carolina?

        Candice Norwood · October 11
      • Los Angeles has never elected a woman mayor. Karen Bass hopes to change that.

        Nadra Nittle · September 8
      • Judge J. Michelle Childs is confirmed to D.C. appeals court

        Candice Norwood · July 20
    • From the Collection

      Pandemic Within a Pandemic

      Illustration of four people marching for Black Lives Matter with coronavirus as the backdrop
      • The 19th Explains: Why the nursing shortage isn’t going away anytime soon

        Mariel Padilla · September 23
      • Some LGBTQ+ people worry that the COVID-19 vaccine will affect HIV medication. It won’t.

        Orion Rummler · November 23
      • Why are more men dying from COVID? It’s a complicated story of nature vs. nurture, researchers say

        Mariel Padilla · September 22
    • From the Collection

      Portraits of a Pandemic

      Illustration of a woman wearing a mask and holding up the coronavirus
      • For family caregivers, COVID is a mental health crisis in the making

        Shefali Luthra · October 8
      • A new database tracks COVID-19’s effects on sex and gender

        Shefali Luthra · September 15
      • Pregnant in a pandemic: The 'perfect storm for a crisis'

        Shefali Luthra · August 25
    • From the Collection

      The 19th Explains

      People walking from many articles to one article where they can get the context they need on an issue.
      • The 19th Explains: What we know about Brittney Griner’s case and what it took to get her home

        Candice Norwood, Katherine Gilyard · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why the Respect for Marriage Act doesn’t codify same-sex marriage rights

        Kate Sosin · December 8
      • The 19th Explains: Why baby formula is still hard to find months after the shortage

        Mariel Padilla · December 1
    • From the Collection

      The Electability Myth

      Illustration of three women speaking at podiums
      • Mayra Flores’ victory set a record for women in Congress. It also reflects the growing visibility of Republican Latinas

        Candice Norwood · June 21
      • Stepping in after tragedy: How political wives became widow lawmakers

        Mariel Padilla · May 24
      • Do term limits help women candidates? New York could be a new testing ground

        Barbara Rodriguez · January 11
    • From the Collection

      The Impact of Aging

      A number of older people walking down a path of information.
      • From ballroom dancing to bloodshed, the older AAPI community grapples with gun control

        Nadra Nittle, Mariel Padilla · January 27
      • 'I'm planning on working until the day I die': Older women voters are worried about the future

        Mariel Padilla · June 3
      • Climate change is forcing care workers to act as first responders

        Jessica Kutz · May 31
    • From the Collection

      Voting Rights

      A series of hands reaching for ballots.
      • Election workers believe in our system — and want everyone else to, too

        Barbara Rodriguez, Jennifer Gerson · November 8
      • Voter ID laws stand between transgender people, women and the ballot box

        Barbara Rodriguez · October 14
      • Emily’s List expands focus on diverse candidates and voting rights ahead of midterm elections

        Errin Haines · August 30

    View all collections

  • Explore by Topic

    • 19th Polling
    • Abortion
    • Business & Economy
    • Caregiving
    • Coronavirus
    • Education
    • Election 2020
    • Election 2022
    • Environment & Climate
    • Health
    • Immigration
    • Inside The 19th
    • Justice
    • LGBTQ+
    • Politics
    • Press Release
    • Race
    • Sports
    • Technology

    View All Topics

Home
  • Our Mission
  • Our Team
  • Latest Stories
  • Search
  • Upcoming Events
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletter
  • Donate
  • Work With Us
  • Fellowships

We’re an independent, nonprofit newsroom reporting on gender, politics and policy. Read our story.

The 19th News(letter)

News from reporters who represent you and your communities.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Become a member

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) leaves her office walking with a group of people.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene heads to the House chamber on Thursday, ahead of a vote on removing her from committee assignments. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

Politics

House removes Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committees

Eleven Republicans join Democrats to oust the first-term Georgia lawmaker who embraced dangerous QAnon conspiracy theories.

Amanda Becker

Washington Correspondent

Amanda Becker portrait

Published

2021-02-04 18:26
6:26
February 4, 2021
pm

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted to strip first-term Republican Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments after a weeks-long uproar over social media posts that either encouraged political violence, endorsed outlandish conspiracy theories or espoused viewpoints that were racist, anti-Semitic or transphobic.

In the 230-199 vote, which Democrats framed as an opportunity to prevent the far-right conspiracy theory known as QAnon from taking hold in Congress, just 11 Republicans crossed the aisle to oust Greene from her newly assigned spots on the House Education and Labor and House Budget Committees. 

Three of the Republicans were Reps. Young Kim from Southern California; Nicole Malliotakis, whose district includes Staten Island and part of Brooklyn; and Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida. 

The 19th thanks our sponsors. Become one.

QAnon supporters believe former President Donald Trump was fighting a globalist ring of cannibalistic pedophiles that includes high-profile Democrats and Hollywood celebrities. Greene shared many of QAnon’s theories before her election but said ahead of the vote that she now knows the conspiracy is not true. She also turned her criticism toward the media, a frequent target of Trump, saying, falsely, that mainstream media organizations are “just as guilty” of spreading lies. 

“These were words of the past and these things do not represent me, they do not represent my district, and they do not represent my values,” Greene said. 

Greene spread many of the conspiracy theories in 2018 and 2019, before her election to Congress. More recently, however, she joined Trump in falsely claiming the results of the 2020 election were invalid and said she would never back down or apologize for her past actions.

The Democratic-controlled House took the unprecedented step of removing Greene from her committees after they could not reach an agreement with Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy about how to address Greene’s behavior, which also included harassing survivors of school shootings and indicating support for the execution of Democratic leaders.

McCarthy offered to remove Greene from the Education and Labor Committee but not the Budget Committee. Democrats said it had to be both or they would move forward on their own. 

“You would think that the Republican leadership in the Congress would have some sense of responsibility to this institution … for some reason, they have chosen not to go down that path,” House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Thursday.

McCarthy said Greene’s removal would “only deepen divisions in this House.”

McCarthy met with Greene earlier in the week, trying to avert her removal from both panels. He said he “made clear” that her past statements would not be tolerated and that going forward she would be held to a higher standard. Many Republican lawmakers applauded Greene during a closed-door meeting Wednesday night over her handling of the outcry.

“I won’t back down. I’ll never apologize. And I’ll always keep fighting for the people,” Greene wrote in a Twitter thread Sunday evening after a phone call with Trump, adding that Democrats and the “blood thirsty media … are attacking me now just like they always attack [him].” An appeal to supporters brought in $175,000 over two days, she said. 

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz of Florida, who authored the resolution to remove Greene, said Thursday that Greene’s remarks this week showed she was not ready to make amends for her past behavior.

“While it is an action we do not take lightly, it is the necessary course of action in the face of her extraordinary behavior,” Wasserman Schultz said on the House floor. 

Most Republican lawmakers denounced Greene’s past statements even as they argued she should not be removed from her committees. They say since most of the behavior in question was before she was elected, it is therefore not under the House’s jurisdiction.

The only recent example of a lawmaker who lost committee posts was Rep. Steve King of Iowa in early 2019. Republican leaders declined to put him back on his committees after his reelection due to remarks he made about white supremacy. After being stripped of his post on the agriculture panel, he lost his 2020 primary race. 

In debate ahead of the vote, Rep. Jackie Walorski of Indiana, the top Republican on the House Ethics Committee, said that while she did not defend Greene’s words or actions, the vote was “nothing more than a partisan power grab” by Democrats in an “effort to consolidate power.”

Rep. Ted Deutch, the Democratic ethics chair, responded: “The appeals to process should be recognized for what they are: an attempt to shield her from accountability.”

Greene herself has suggested the precedent set by removing her will be used against Democrats when Republicans regain control of the House, saying there would be “payback.”

Democrats insist that Greene’s removal is about taking a stand against racism and hate speech, along with stemming QAnon’s spread. 

McCarthy said Wednesday night that “I don’t even know what [QAnon] is,” but the minority leader has weighed in on the conspiracy theory at several points in the past. 

McCarthy was speaking after the party’s meeting that put on display the Republican Party’s internal dilemma over whether Trump should remain its de facto leader or be deposed after his encouragement of the riot at the U.S. Capitol that prompted his second impeachment. The Senate plans to start its trial on Monday.

Senate Republicans have been far more forceful than their House counterparts in their denouncement of Greene. They face reelection in statewide races that are typically more competitive than many highly partisan House districts. 

The other Republicans who voted to remove Greene from her committees were Reps. Fred Upton of Michigan, Mario Diaz Balart of Florida, Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania, Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, John Katko of New York, Chris Smith of New Jersey, Carlos Giminez of Florida and Chris Jacobs of New York. 

Share

  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Email

The 19th News(letter)

News from reporters who represent you and your communities.

You have been subscribed!

Submitting...

Uh-oh! Something went wrong. Please try again later.

Become a member

Up Next

Jaime Gabrielli and her son Justin draped in an LGBTQ flag.

LGBTQ+

A wave of anti-trans bills are hitting statehouses

Experts say that though passing anti-LGBTQ+ bills is a losing battle, some could end up before the Supreme Court.

Read the Story

The 19th
The 19th is a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt organization. Our stories are free to republish in accordance with these guidelines.

  • Donate
  • Newsletter
  • Events
  • Search
  • Jobs
  • Fellowships
  • Contact Us
  • About Us
  • Community Guidelines
  • Membership
  • Membership FAQ
  • Major Gifts
  • Sponsorship
  • Privacy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram