Pa. Republicans mostly support Marjorie Taylor Greene in House committee ouster

Eight out of nine Pennsylvania Republicans in the House of Representatives stood with U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, as Democrats led a successful move to strip committee assignments from the controversial Georgia Republican with a history of supporting conspiracy theories and making racist comments.

Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick, who represents a swing district in the Philadelphia suburbs, was the sole Keystone State GOP House member to vote for her removal from the Education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee. He was one of 11 Republicans in all who crossed party lines in the 230-199 vote for Greene’s ouster.

Those who stood with the first-term lawmaker included U.S. Reps. Guy Reschenthaler, John Joyce, Mike Kelly and Glenn Thompson from Western Pennsylvania, along with Fred Keller, Dan Meuser, Scott Perry and Lloyd Smucker, who represent other parts of the state.

That same group of eight previously objected to certifying Pennsylvania’s 20 Electoral College votes for President Joe Biden and voted against impeaching former President Donald Trump a second time. While Fitzpatrick did not vote to overturn the Electoral College vote, he did vote against a second impeachment.

Following Greene being removed from her committees, Joyce of Blair County — and whose district covers eastern Westmoreland County — roundly condemned Democrats for the maneuver.

“It is wholly inappropriate for the majority party to trample the rights of the minority party by unilaterally unseating a minority member from his or her committees,” Joyce said. “This malicious vote, the first in our nation’s history, sets a dangerous precedent that will have lasting negative ramifications on the People’s House.”

Reschenthaler, who represents the western half of Westmoreland County as well as Fayette, Greene and Washington counties, called Greene’s comments made before taking office “unacceptable, and I condemn them unequivocally, as did Representative Greene.

“Despite good faith efforts by Republicans to work with Democrats to address their concerns about Rep. Greene’s rhetoric, Speaker Pelosi brought an unprecedented and divisive resolution to the House floor. Never in modern history has one party dictated another party’s committee assignments,” Reschenthaler said in a statement. “This partisan power grab makes it clear that Congressional Democrats have no intentions of heeding President Biden’s inaugural calls for unity.”

Should Republicans regain control of the House, Reschenthaler said “we will have no choice but to respond in kind to this dangerous precedent.”

Greene rose to prominence over the years by voicing support for QAnon theories, including the belief that Washington, D.C., is run by a cabal of pedophiles and cannibals. She also suggested that mass school shootings were a hoax, endorsed violence against leading Democrats, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and repeated anti-Semitic and Islamophobic conspiracy theories online.

The congresswoman, who is close to the former president, has become the nexus in a bitter battle for the future of the GOP that pits traditional conservatives against the base of Trump supporters. Mitch McConnell, the Senate minority leader, called the proliferation of such Republicans “a cancer” on the party and said their “loony lies” put the party’s future in jeopardy.

In a statement before the House, Greene wore a face mask and insisted she has broken with her past positions. She stopped short of apologizing for any of them.

In 2019, Republicans ousted GOP Rep. Steve King of Iowa from his committee assignments for making racist comments.

Democrats, however, led the move to oust Greene from her assignments after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy on Wednesday opted not to act against the lawmaker who was once viewed as a rising star in the party.

McCarthy’s decision followed a secret ballot the same day in which the embattled Republican caucus voted 145-61 against ousting Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership position. Far-right conservatives had called for ousting the Wyoming congresswoman from her party leadership post after she joined 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump last month.