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The debate over Greene’s fate has become emblematic of the larger brawl over the direction and future of the Republican Party in post-Trump Washington. The former president has moved to Florida, his Twitter account shut down, but retains enormous influence over GOP base voters drawn to the nationalist, no-apologies persona that defined his time in the White House a mold Greene has assumed, with Trump’s enthusiastic support.
Democrats implored the GOP to hold members of Congress to what they think should be a minimal standard: that anyone who has endorsed political violence or embraced conspiracy theories like suggesting school shootings were staged or QAnon whose supporters attacked the Capitol on Jan. 6 has no business serving on committees.
A total of 199 Republicans including the party’s leadership stood by Greene, compared to the 11 who joined with Democrats.
The list of defectors featured three Republicans from Florida, the home of a 2018 high school shooting massacre that Greene has suggested was a hoax. Those Florida lawmakers were Reps. Mario Diaz-Balart When she goes after students, victimsf, and survivors of senseless gun violence as in the case of the Parkland High School shooting, she loses all credibility as someone assigned to crafting policies in protection of our children from violence, Gimenez said in a statement.
In another regional trend, a number of Republicans from New York and its surrounding areas also voted to punish Greene, including Katko, Chris Jacobs (N.Y.), Nicole Malliotakis (N.Y.) and Chris Smith
House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) made a point of displaying a poster of a social media post from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) holding a gun next to three progressive Democrats during floor debate on a resolution to remove her from committees, warning that such rhetoric puts their lives in danger.