Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, a vocal advocate of the far right QAnon conspiracy theory, has seen her fair share of public backlash in recent weeks. The congresswoman, representing Georgia’s 14th District has been shrouded in controversy over comments on her social media accounts prior to running for office. According to a CNN investigation, Greene “liked” comments on Facebook that threatened violence against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and claimed the “stage is being set” for the executions of Hillary Clinton and former President Barack Obama over the Iran Nuclear Deal. On Wednesday, Greene faced another round of backlash after a video went viral on Twitter of her harassing David Hogg, a gun safety activist who survived the Parkland, Florida school shooting in 2018.
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As a result, advocacy groups are calling for her resignation, while lawmakers seek to have Greene removed from office just three weeks after she was sworn in. The calls for her removal first came from gun safety groups, including March for Our Lives-Parkland, Moms Demand Action, and Everytown for Gun Safety; as well as from the NAACP, and the advocacy organization People For the American Way (PFAW).
Several Democrats have also argued for Greene’s removal, with California Congressman Jimmy Gomez on Wednesday introducing a resolution to have Greene removed from office. Citing Greene’s alleged comments about executing political figures, Gomez said in a statement that Greene’s “advocacy for extremism and sedition not only demands her immediate expulsion from Congress, but it also merits strong and clear condemnation from all of her Republican colleagues.”
Likewise, Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock said Greene’s rhetoric and behavior are “dangerous and unacceptable,” and added that she is fanning the “flames of division and we’ve just seen how deadly those flames can be.” Warnock referred to the January 6 attack on the Capitol, of which Greene has been accused of inciting after she objected to the 2020 presidential election results. Colorado Democratic Rep. Jason Crow also suggested expulsion from the House for Greene, and GOP leadership, including House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said he “plans to have a conversation with the Congresswoman” over her comments.
The question now remains: Can Greene actually be removed from her Congressional seat? In short, yes. Expulsion is the harshest form of disciplinary action that can be taken against a representative and requires a two-thirds majority vote from the legislative body seeking removal. According to House records, expulsion “serves principally to protect the reputation of the institution and to preserve the dignity of its proceedings.” But the House is also careful to respect the people’s vote and has never expelled a lawmaker for their conduct prior to taking office. The House has only used its expulsion powers five times over the last 200 years — the last time was in 2002 when Democrat Jim Traficant was removed from office after he was convicted for bribery, racketeering, and tax evasion.
If the House were able to effectively remove Greene from office, she would, in her own mind, become just one more victim of the so-called radical left’s “cancel culture.” But until then, lawmakers are looking into their disciplinary options.