WASHINGTON – Marjorie Taylor Greene, the Georgia GOP congresswoman stripped of her committee assignments two years ago by the Democratic-led House following a series of menacing social media posts, has been reinstated by the Republicans who now run the chamber.
Greene was named Tuesday to the Oversight and Accountability Committee, a post she had said she wanted. The panel will be at the forefront of investigating the Biden Administration. Greene also won a seat on the Homeland Security Committee.
“We will return the role of the Oversight Committee to investigating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of the federal government, which is exactly what the American people are fed up with,” according to a statement Greene issued Tuesday. “Joe Biden, be prepared.”
In addition, Republicans reinstated Arizona GOP Rep. Paul Gosar, who similarly had been removed from his committees after being censured in 2021 for posting an anime video that was edited to show him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and attacking President Joe Biden.
Gosar was named to the Committee on Natural Resources, according to his spokesperson.
Neither move is a surprise since GOP leader Kevin McCarthy had vowed to reassign them to committees before he was elected House speaker earlier this month.
Greene had voted for McCarthy as speaker in each of the 15 rounds it took to finally elect him. Gosar had initially supported other candidates before getting behind the California Republican in the later rounds.
New York GOP Rep. George Santos, who has faced growing calls from within his party to step down, was named Tuesday to the Small Business and Science, Space and Technology committees, according to MSNBC and CNN. Both are considered minor panels but his appointment suggests Republican leaders are not pressuring him to resign despite revelations he lied during the campaign about his background and resume.
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Greene stripped of committees for threatening posts
Greene had been removed for a litany of social media posts that opponents deemed threatening and dangerous.
At one point in the floor debate over her fate nearly two years ago, then-Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., walked to the well of the House floor holding a poster board depicting a since-removed Facebook campaign ad by Greene showing her holding an assault weapon next to photos of three Democratic Reps. Alexandra Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib, part of a group known as part of the “Squad.” The ad read: “Squad’s Worst Nightmare.”
“I urge my colleagues to look at that image and tell me what message you think it sends,” Hoyer said as he addressed his Republican colleagues. “Imagine your faces on this poster.”
McCarthy responded at the time that “this resolution sets a a dangerous new standard that will only deepen division within this House. For all their talk about norms and institutions, it’s the Democrats who’ve acted to undermine the People’s House at every turn.”
Gosar censured by House over controversial video
Gosar faced widespread criticism after he posted an edited anime-style video to his social media accounts appearing to show him killing his colleague, Ocasio-Cortez, and attacking Biden.
It mimicked the theme song and introduction of “Attack on Titan,” a popular Japanese animation series. Twitter flagged the video for violating its rules against calls for violence. It was later deleted.
Gosar was defiant about being censured: “I do not espouse violence against anyone. I never have,” he said. “There is no threat in the cartoon other than the threat that immigration poses to our country.”
He had released an open letter apologizing to his colleagues but not to Ocasio-Cortez, stating that his staff had released the video and that “nothing hateful” was intended by the imagery.
Amid fallout, Santos receives committee assignments
Despite the growing calls from Republicans for the freshman lawmaker to resign after misleading New York voters during his run for office, McCarthy told reporters last week he still planned to allow Santos to serve on committees.
“The voters have elected George Santos. If there is a concern, he will go through ethics (committee),” McCarthy said during a press conference Thursday. “If there is something that is found, he will be dealt with in that manner but they have a voice in this process.”
GOP leadership assigned Santos to the Small Business and Science, Space and Technology committees — both lower tier assignments.
