Marjorie Taylor Greene Is a Scapegoat, But a Deserving One
Stripping her of committee assignments isn’t ideal. But Democrats had little choice.
Had it coming.
Photographer: Alex Wong/Getty
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I’m of several minds about the decision by House Democrats to punish Georgia Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene by stripping her of her committee seats. On Thursday, a united Democratic caucus was joined by 11 House Republicans in taking the unusual step.
On the one hand, Greene certainly deserved everything she received, and more. She’s a disgrace to the House.
On the other hand, I’ve seen several congressional scholars express discomfort with the path Democrats chose to discipline Greene, and I share that view. The norm for a long time has been that the parties, not the House majority, determine which members sit on what committees. After all, there’s no constitutional requirement that the minority party have seats on committees at all (and indeed, the entire tradition of standing committees is extra-constitutional).