Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) is one step closer to being removed from the House Homeland Security Committee after she called Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas “liar” and accused him of being responsible for thousands of fentanyl deaths in the United States, a direct violation of House rules that prohibit the impugning the character of a witness.
According to CNN reporter Melanie Zanona, committee chairman Mark Green (R-TN) has had enough of Greene’s antics.
“GOP tensions flaring over MTG’s committee hearing outburst today,. Source close to Chairman Mark Green said he was furious w/ MTG’s behavior and planned to privately reprimand her, and also said he’d encourage McCarthy to remove her from the committee if she did that again. But MTG doubled down on her rhetoric, accusing her GOP colleagues of ‘doing the bidding’ of Dems. She told me went to [House Speaker Kevin] McCarthy’s office to talk about it & said to him: ‘I don’t know how we’re ever going to accomplish anything when we can’t call people a liar when they’re lying.'”
CNN also reports that other House Republicans are also fed up with Greene and want her disciplined for her antics.
GOP lawmakers on the committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN that Greene’s behavior was an unnecessary distraction and complained they had to waste valuable hearing time over the dust-up. Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who called Greene a “friend” that he has hosted in his district, said the incident was “unfortunate” and supported the chairman’s decision to silence her. “I thought he did a good job managing the committee as best as he could. But the sooner we can get back to kind of civility amongst colleagues, the better for everybody,” he told CNN.
Greene was reportedly instrumental in helping Rep. Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) get elected Speaker of the House by a razor thin margin in January, and it remains unclear if he would support barring her from the Homeland Security Committee.
