The House Freedom Caucus Gives Marjorie Taylor Greene the Boot

The House Freedom Caucus (HFC) voted to kick out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) shortly before the Fourth of July recess, a caucus member confirmed.

Summary

The House Freedom Caucus (HFC) voted to kick out Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) shortly before the Fourth of July recess, a caucus member confirmed.

• The final straw was reportedly when Greene called Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-CO), a fellow member of the HFC, a “little bitch” on the House floor.
• Rep. Andy Harris (R-MD) told Politico “a vote was taken to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Freedom Caucus for some of the things she’s done” and called her ouster an “appropriate decision.”
• Harris specifically cited the Greene-Boebert contretemps as a key factor in her removal.
• “I think the way she referred to a fellow member was probably not the way we expect our members to refer to other fellow, especially female, members,” Harris said.
• Greene’s vocal support of Speaker Kevin McCarthy and for the debt-ceiling compromise McCarthy struck with President Joe Biden also contributed to her getting the boot, but the Boebert incident was “the straw that broke the camel’s back.”
• Marjorie Taylor Greene is the first person to be voted out of the House Freedom Caucus.

• “Greene’s biggest personal foe in the HFC—Boebert—was far from the most enthusiastic to push her out,” according to the Daily Beast. “During internal deliberations almost two weeks ago—which occurred after Greene confirmed to multiple publications she indeed did call Boebert ‘a little bitch’—Boebert agreed with another member who argued against removing Greene, out of respect for her right to ‘freedom of speech.’”
• NBC News noted that despite the range of media reports and House members saying otherwise, there is still some uncertainty about Greene’s status. HFC Chairman Rep. Scott Perry (R-PA) hasn’t officially notified Greene about her ouster. “Another Republican source, who requested anonymity to discuss internal deliberations, said Perry has not brought up the subject because he wants to sit down and talk to Greene about it in person, which is likely to happen next week.”
• Axios reported on the mechanics of Greene’s reported removal. “Proponents of removing her argued her behavior was “unprofessional” and took issue with her shift toward supporting House Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) on an array of issues, often breaking with her HFC colleagues. Freedom Caucus decisions generally require the support of 80% of its members, with a sizable number of her colleagues supporting her ouster.”

• After the vote, Greene told the New York Post “that while she is willing to work with ‘anyone’ who advocates for conservative policy goals, she serves ‘no group’ on Capitol Hill other than her constituents.”
• Breitbart provided context for the insults Greene levied at Boebert. “Greene had lobbed the insult at Boebert while charging that Boebert had “copied” her by filing her own impeachment articles against President Joe Biden after Greene had already done so. The testy remarks were first reported in the Daily Beast, which also reported that one lawmaker confirmed Boebert, in fact, opposed kicking Greene out of the group.”
• Greene herself confirmed to the Washington Examiner that she did in fact call Boebert a “little bitch.” After the vote, Boebert’s office released a statement where she said, “There was nothing personal about Congresswoman Boebert’s vote regarding MTG’s membership status in the House Freedom Caucus.”

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© Dominic Moore, 2023