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After voicing her unwavering support for Rep. Kevin McCarthy’s quest for speaker, conservative firebrand Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia received appointments to two significant House committees. Greene will be a member of the House Oversight and Homeland Security Committees.
The Homeland Security panel oversees the Department of Homeland Security and works on laws pertaining to immigration and national security, including the border. One of the GOP’s inquiries into the sensitive materials discovered in President Joe Biden’s former office will fall under the purview of the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability. Greene had previously shown an interest in being a member of the Oversight panel.
About 30 members of the House leadership and additional regional representatives make up the steering committee. However, the whole House GOP conference must agree to the committee rosters.
In February 2021, the House voted to remove Greene from her committees after a number of contentious social media posts from before she was in office came to light, including antisemitic remarks, claims that the shooting in Parkland, Florida, was a false flag, and statements that promoted the QAnon conspiracy theory. Eleven Republicans joined Democrats in voting to remove Greene from her panels.
McCarthy vowed to reinstate her on her committees and to kick out any Democrats who had made divisive remarks before the Republicans retook the majority.
Rep. Paul Gosar (R-AZ) will join Greene on the House Natural Resources Committee as well as Oversight, a committee he previously served on.
After publishing a contentious anime film suggesting violence against progressive Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Gosar was censured and suspended from his committees in November 2021. (D-NY). Gosar has already faced criticism for giving a speech at a gathering with connections to the white nationalist movement. In prior years, Greene has also spoken at the gathering.
In a statement posted on her website, Greene discussed her goals for the two committees and her involvement on them. Some of the quotes from the statement say the following:
“One of the key agenda items for the Republican majority in the 118th Congress is oversight. That’s why I’m honored to be selected to serve on what could arguably be the most important committee this Congress, the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.
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.
Joe Biden, be prepared. We are going to uncover every corrupt business dealing, every foreign entanglement, every abuse of power, and every check cut for The Big Guy.
And it’s not just the Biden Crime Family, the GOP majority will investigate every bit of government being used to abuse the American people. Every three and four letter agency will now have to answer to Republican oversight, not the rubber-stamp of Democrat rule.
I can’t wait to get started and look forward to my assignment being ratified next week by the entire GOP conference.”
Her selection came under fire on Tuesday, with many Democrats arguing that she shouldn’t serve on the committee due to her prior comments regarding the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack and her position regarding the Capitol riot on January 6, 2021. Rep. Ritchie Torres, a NY Democrat, tweeted:
“As the former Vice Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, I’m HORRIFIED that it was just announced that Marjorie Taylor Greene will serve on the committee.”
On the other hand, California Democrat Rep. Eric Swalwell stated:
“This is who Kevin McCarthy thinks is qualified to serve on the HOMELAND SECURITY Committee #NotTheOnion.”
Rhode Island Democrat Rep. Seth Magaziner also made a statement about MTG’s appointment:
“Marjorie Taylor Greene promoted violence against members Congress, campaigned with violent far-right militia groups, spread false rumors claiming school shootings were fake, and tried to overturn the 2020 election. She does not belong anywhere near the Homeland Security Cmtte.”
In 2020, Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was initially appointed to the House Budget Committee and the House Committee on Education and Labor.
