Demands for Marjorie Taylor Greene's removal grow: 'There must be consequences for her actions'

Demands that Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene be expelled from the House of Representatives or at least removed from her committee assignments are growing, with pressure coming from Democratic lawmakers as well as progressive activists who say the Georgia Republican's "dangerous ideas have no place in Congress."

In a short period of time, Greene has become notorious for, among other things: perpetuating former President Donald Trump's baseless claims about voter fraud in the 2020 election, which culminated in the deadly insurrection at the U.S. capitol on January 6; callously lying about a number of mass shootings as well as harassing David Hogg, a student who survived the Parkland massacre; spreading racist, Islamophobic, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories, including one suggesting that a "Jewish space laser" is to blame for a 2018 wildfire in California; and expressing support for the execution of prominent Democrats.

A MoveOn petition calling on GOP leadership to remove Greene from the House Education and Labor Committees had garnered more than180,000 signatures as of Saturday afternoon.

Matt Hildreth of RuralOrganizing.org started the petition, in which he wrote:

Human Rights Campaign (HRC) president Alphonso David on Friday said that the revelations that Greene "openly endorsed executing public officials and harassed a teenage victim of gun violence, is deeply disturbing."

"Congresswoman Greene has demonstrated her lack of regard for our democracy and its institutions," David added, "choosing instead to fan the flames of division and hate—the same elements motivating the domestic terrorists who stormed the Capitol just three weeks ago."

Emphasizing that "there must be consequences for her actions," David implored House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) "to hold her accountable and remove Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from all her assigned Congressional committees at the very least."

There are additional groups demanding that Congress take disciplinary action against Greene. The Women's March on Saturday called on the House to expel Greene from the chamber, citing several examples of the "extremist opinions, inciteful rhetoric, and toxic lies that she supports."

The Women's March was echoing a demand made the previous day by Muslim Advocates, a national civil rights organization fighting against Islamophobia and other forms of discrimination in the United States. In a statement released Friday, the group pointed out that Green has "suggested that Muslims do not belong in government, tried to force Reps. Ilhan Omar (D-Minn.) and Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) to re-swear their congressional oaths on a Bible and even posted a picture of herself holding a gun next to them."

Calling for Greene's immediate expulsion, Scott Simpson, Muslim Advocates public advocacy director, said that every minute Greene "remains in office is a minute where [Democratic Reps.] André Carson, Ilhan Omar, Rashida Tlaib, their colleagues, and their staff in Congress are in danger."

"Each day," Simpson continued, "we learn more about Greene's recent history of spreading dangerous conspiracy theories, encouraging violence against public officials, and making bigoted statements about Muslims, Jews, and other marginalized communities."

"This behavior is an embarrassment to the U.S. Congress," he added, "and presents a real danger to the people of color who have to walk the same halls with Greene each day."

As Common Dreams reported Friday, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.), a Black woman and prominent progressive, was forced forced to relocate her congressional office to protect her "team's safety" after Greene and members of her staff "berated" Bush in the hallway and harassed her on social media.

Another progressive group, Indivisible, on Friday encouraged people to tell their representatives to support Rep. Jimmy Gomez's (D-Calif.) resolution to expel Greene from office.

Gomez must convince 70 House Republicans to support removing Greene from the chamber in order to attain the two-thirds majority required to pass the resolution, but other Democratic lawmakers have proposed an alternative that has a higher likelihood of success.

Reps. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.) and Sara Jacobs (D-Calif.) announced Friday that they will introduce a resolution next week to formally censure Greene and call for her resignation, as Common Dreamsreported. Unlike Gomez's measure, Jacobs and Williams' resolution would only require a majority vote in the Democrat-controlled House.

According toPolitico, McCarthy's office has said the GOP leader will "sit down for a conversation with Greene next week."

"But whether McCarthy decides to punish Greene will depend on how that meeting goes," the news outlet noted. "McCarthy had a similar face-to-face meeting in 2019 with former Rep. Steve King (R-Iowa) after he defended white nationalism in an interview with the New York Times. The Iowa Republican showed little remorse during their interaction, and shortly afterward, McCarthy booted King from his committees."

As the HRC's David put it, "The integrity of our democratic institutions should be important to all elected officials regardless of political party. Accordingly, McCarthy should act—and act urgently."