After Republicans led by U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, threatened to tie down the House of Representatives for hours at a time again this week to vote on mundane bills, Democrats finally had enough.
Instead of enduring eight hours of votes on 16 minor bipartisan bills, House Democrats used the rules to pass them all in a single vote, short-circuiting Greene’s parliamentary slowdown.
“Every bill should be considered separately and voted on by every member of Congress with full transparency!” Greene declared, though a majority of Republicans refused to support her efforts.
It was part of yet another wild week on Capitol Hill for the Rome Republican, who has quickly turned herself into the loudest voice in Congress for supporters of former President Trump.
Already booted off two House committees for outlandish statements, Greene started making life difficult on the House floor by calling for votes on everything, gaining the support of conservatives in the House Freedom Caucus.
“We will continue fighting to slow down their radical agendas,” said U.S. Rep. Andy Biggs of Arizona, who helped Greene call for repeated roll call votes in the House.
But the bills slowed by the Georgia Republican were far from anyone’s ‘radical agenda.’
The measures included dangerous sounding items like the “Transit Security Grant Program Flexibility Act,” the “Cyber Diplomacy Act of 2021,” and the “Eliminate Barriers to Innovation Act.”
Those bills were sponsored by Republicans.
But to Greene — they were evidently straight out of Havana or Moscow — what she labeled a ‘communist agenda.’
It was just part of another normal week for Greene — in other words, a completely abnormal situation — where the freshman Georgia lawmaker continues to overshadow most Republicans in Congress.
Greene this week tangled with reporters about efforts to create an “America First” caucus in the House — she claimed it was developed by staff without her approval.
After the Derek Chauvin guilty verdicts in Minnesota, Greene claimed Washington, D.C. was quiet because people feared possible riots — which wasn’t the case at all.
Meanwhile, Greene kept up her attacks on Dr. Anthony Fauci, wearing a ‘Fire Fauci’ face mask, and calling the infectious disease expert, ‘the highest-paid dictator in the federal government.’
Greene put forward a motion to expel U.S. Rep. Maxine Waters D-Calif., and continued to jab at U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, challenging the New York Democrat to a debate over her “Green New Deal.”
But like Fauci, Ocasio-Cortez ignored Greene.
So far, Greene hasn’t had anything close to a legislative success to talk about. But that doesn’t seem to be slowing her, as she reported raising an astounding $3.2 million in campaign donations in her first three months in office.
“They hate me, because they hate you,” the Georgia Republican told her backers.
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and the Congress from Washington, D.C. since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at http://jamiedupree.substack.com
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