House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) warned Democrats during a Thursday speech on the House floor that they may come to regret using their majority power to pull Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) from her committee assignments.
“Now, we’ve reviewed this with the parliamentarian,” McCarthy said. “Never before in the history of this House, has the majority abused its power in this way. Never in the entire history of this House have you ever abused the power in this way.”
Speaking further regarding the controversy Greene generated with things she said before becoming a member of Congress, McCarthy said, “As for the member in question, let me be very clear. Rep. Greene’s past comments and posts as a private citizen do not represent the values of my party,” McCarthy said. “As a Republican, as a conservative, as an American, I condemn those views unequivocally. I condemn them when they first surfaced and I condemn them today.”
“This House overwhelmingly voted to condemn the dangerous lies of QAnon last Congress and continue to do so,” McCarthy continued. “I made this clear when I met with Rep. Greene. I also made clear that we as members have a responsibility to hold ourselves to a higher standard. She acknowledged this during our conversation and apologized for her past comments. I will hold her to her words and her actions moving forward.”
McCarthy said he offered to pull Greene off one of her committee assignments, but that Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) rejected the offer.
“If this is the new standard, if this is new standard, I look forward to continuing out the standard,” McCarthy continued. “Because if you look for a side that has a leadership that’s done something when their members do something as a member, not prior, look to me. Because I did just that. But when a Democrat freshmen said ‘Israel has hypnotized the world,’ that supporting Israel is ‘all about the Benjamins,’ and that 9/11 ‘some people did something,’ did Speaker Pelosi kick her off Foreign Affairs Committee? Or did she keep her on the committee and even pose with her on the cover of a magazine? Will the standard change?”
“When another Democrat was compromised by a Chinese spy, that it was so serious that the FBI had to brief the congressional leaders, did Speaker Pelosi remove him from the House Intelligence or Homeland Security Committees after the briefing?” McCarthy went on. “I’m the only other person that had that same briefing. Just recently, I was in the room with the speaker. I heard what was said. I’ll be very clear, I would never have that member on either of those committees. Or did she reward him by making him the head of the subcommittee overseeing the CIA? I guess there’s different standards.”
“When the chairman of the Rules Committee objected to certifying the 2016 election, citing Russian interference, did Speaker Pelosi censure him?” McCarthy continued.
“How about when the chairwoman the Financial Services Committee told supporters at a rally in 2017, she was a member then, unlike the person we’re talking about today, ‘If you see anyone from the cabinet, in a restaurant, in a department store, at gasoline station, you get out, you create a crowd, you push back on them, and you tell them they’re not welcome anywhere, anywhere, with anyone anymore.’ After she called for violence against public servants, did Speaker Pelosi condemn it?” McCarthy continued, referring to Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA).
“Or did she look the other way and make her chairwoman again? I don’t know if you want to amend this one and add others so you can keep your standard. The answer is obvious.”
“When Democrats democrats attack Congresswoman Greene, they not only in ignore the infractions within their own party, they reward these members with prestige and influence,” McCarthy added.
McCarthy also fired a warning shot at Democrats by quoting Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY), saying, “‘You’ll regret this and you may regret this a lot sooner than you think.”
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