McCarthy Reveals That He’s Going To Do…Nothing To Punish Greene

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) speaks during a press conference on Capitol Hill on October 22, 2019. (Photo by SAUL LOEB/AFP via Getty Images)
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

After days of caginess, House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy released a statement Wednesday afternoon revealing that he intends to do nothing to punish Rep. Marjorie Greene (R-GA) for approving of calls for the execution of Democratic officials online.

“While Democrats pursue a resolution on Congresswoman Greene, they continue to do nothing about Democrats serving on the Foreign Affairs Committee who have spread anti-Semitic tropes, Democrats on the House Intelligence and Homeland Security Committee compromised by Chinese spies, or the Chairwoman of the House Financial Services Committee who advocated for violence against public servants,” he said in a heaping dose of bad faith both siderism for the Fox News crowd.

McCarthy’s inaction was telegraphed by the posture of Republicans on the House Rules Committee that met earlier Wednesday afternoon to debate a resolution that would strip Greene of her committee assignments.

While many of them said they found Greene’s comments offensive, they all quickly pivoted to arguing that punishing her through a floor vote would set damaging precedent in punishing members for actions they took before they got elected, and giving the majority party power to decide which committees members of the minority can sit on.

Democrats seemed baffled by the argument, retorting that they wouldn’t have gotten involved in the first place if McCarthy had punished Greene himself. Many pointed to the case of former Rep. Steve King (R-IA) who McCarthy finally stripped of his committee assignments after years of racist comments.

Now, though, McCarthy has confirmed that he won’t take any action. He did not take action to remove Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from her leadership position, telling reporters that “Liz has the right to vote her conscience” and that the end of the day, they’re “united.” If he didn’t punish Greene for liking a comment desiring to put a bullet in House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s (D-CA) head, but did punish Cheney for her “yes” vote on impeachment, he’d be solidly aligning the party with the forces of conspiracy and violence.

Much to the Republicans’ chagrin, Greene probably will be stripped of her committee assignments anyway, on the back of Democratic votes. The Rules Committee passed the resolution Wednesday evening, and the full House will vote Thursday.

This post has been updated.

Latest News
248
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Did anyone really expect Qevin to actually do anything? Seriously? Anybody? Anybody at all?

  2. Much to the Republicans’ chagrin, Greene probably will be stripped of her committee assignments anyway, on the back of Democratic votes.

    That’s too bad.

    Good.

  3. McCarthy Reveals That He’s Going To Do…Nothing To Punish Greene

    Usually I would say Qevin is at his best when doing nothing… but maybe not this time.

  4. Avatar for tena tena says:

    There’s a big fucking surprise.

  5. I would give a reply to your question but I am too busy laughing.

    Qevin McQarthy is devoid of any ethics and morals as much as he is devoid of any intelligence. But, as you have pointed out, we’ve already known that for a very long time.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

242 more replies

Participants

Avatar for playitagainrowlf Avatar for eggrollian Avatar for globalguy Avatar for cervantes Avatar for george_spiggott Avatar for teenlaqueefa Avatar for inversion Avatar for sniffit Avatar for tacoma Avatar for emjayay Avatar for lastroth Avatar for darrtown Avatar for tena Avatar for jinnj Avatar for dommyluc Avatar for Anarchy_Bunker Avatar for castor_troy Avatar for dannydorko Avatar for skeptical Avatar for dvdf1126 Avatar for occamscoin Avatar for trustywoods Avatar for Thane Avatar for LeeHarveyGriswold

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: