Just when it seemed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., couldn't go any further off the rails, she compared pandemic masking rules to the evils of the Holocaust. It's the latest in a long line of offenses that go far beyond rank partisanship, including her bizarre and potentially dangerous obsession with fellow congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y. Greene has already been removed from her committee assignments, a remedy that appears to have only given her more time for mischief.
The House isn't helpless here. There is a process in place for expulsion of members who bring the body into disrepute. Greene has passed that threshold multiple times now.
In a political era rife with vitriol and disinformation, Greene has become the most recognizable face of both in Congress — a remarkable achievement, given that she was just seated for her first House term in January. A far-right activist who enthusiastically traded in wacky conspiracy theories like QAnon, her schtick is grounded in xenophobia and racism. Two years before she assumed office, for example, she was videoed walking the halls of Congress belligerently banging on the office doors of Ocasio-Cortez and other progressive congresswomen of color alleging they weren't legitimately in power.
In February, a month after being sworn in, Greene's House colleagues, including 11 fellow Republicans, voted to remove her from her committee assignments based on her history of violent rhetoric. In her defense, Greene claimed her past comments "do not represent me." But everything she's done since indicates otherwise. She has continued her disturbing obsession with Ocasio-Cortez, recently following her out of the House chamber, barking allegations about terrorism and socialism. Rep. Cori Bush, D-St. Louis — like so many of Greene's targets, a progressive and a woman of color — moved her office to get away from Greene, alleging Greene had taken to berating her and her staff. Greene has repeatedly flouted House floor mask rules, resulting recently in a $500 fine.
The mask issue sparked Greene's latest meltdown. In an interview, she compared House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's continuing House floor mask requirement to making Jews in Nazi Germany wear the Star of David as identification. She added that Jews being "put in trains and taken to gas chambers in Nazi Germany" is "exactly the type of abuse that Nancy Pelosi is talking about."
Even House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy felt compelled to condemn her.
Enough. Greene is an aggressive cancer on an already struggling patient called American politics. Expelling her from the House would require a two-thirds vote, meaning there would have to be Republican buy-in — a crucial element in any case, since a purely partisan expulsion would be more damaging to the institution than Greene herself. Republicans should consider the fact that every day this unfit officeholder remains in office, she is debasing their party as well as Congress.
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