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Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene, a far right Republican from Georgia who has pushed several unfounded conspiracy theories in the past, was appointed to two key committee assignments this week.
The House GOP Steering Committee, which assigns Republican lawmakers in the House of Representatives to the various committees that exist within that chamber, placed Greene on the House Committee on Homeland Security as well as the House Oversight Committee. Greene received unanimous consent from the Steering Committee to serve on those panels, in spite of her having been removed from committees in the past over her well-documented controversial viewpoints.
Greene’s removal from the Budget and Education Committees, which occurred in the first few weeks of the 2021-22 congressional session (her first in Congress), came about due to numerous statements she had made in recent years prior, including peddling false claims about the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, as well as blatantly false and antisemitic claims that Jewish people had control of technology that could have been responsible for California wildfires. Many of her claims could trace their origins to the QAnon movement, which is itself based on a series of conspiracy theories alleging former President Donald Trump is working behind the scenes within the U.S. government to expose corruption on the left and will eventually be reinstated in the White House.
In addition to those claims pushed, the Georgia Republican also falsely claimed on social media that former President Barack Obama, a noted Christian, was a Muslim who “opened up our borders to an invasion by Muslims.” And prior to her being elected to congress, Greene had indicated that she supported the idea of executing high-profile Democrats in Washington, D.C.
Her controversies extend into her congressional tenure, too. While serving as a member of Congress, Greene also pushed false and unfounded claims that the 2020 presidential election was rigged, and was one of dozens of Republican lawmakers to vote against the certification of the Electoral College based on that notion. In early 2022, Greene also appeared at a white nationalist event as a featured speaker, alongside white supremacist Nick Fuentes.
Further, Greene has spread countless lies on social media about the safety of vaccines for COVID-19, and wrongly asserted numerous times that the vaccines were responsible for people’s deaths while ignoring the true danger that the coronavirus presented. She has even gone so far as to compare the restrictions implemented to prevent the spread of the virus to the Holocaust.
As a member of the Homeland Security Committee, Greene will be a part of the decision-making process in Congress when it comes to issues of immigration and national security. It’s unclear whether her two years in Congress have tempered her extremist and unfounded far right views.
Greene, alongside other Republican lawmakers, will also likely pursue extremist conspiracy theories in her role on the Oversight Committee, where it’s expected that the GOP will open numerous inquiries into President Joe Biden and his family members.
“I can’t wait to get started and look forward to my assignment being ratified next week by the entire GOP conference,” Greene said in a statement on her committee assignments.
Others, however, were less-than-enthused over Greene’s appointments to the high-profile committees.
“Today’s GOP is a threat to our nation’s safety,” progressive podcast host Dean Obeidallah said on Twitter in response to Greene’s placement on the Homeland Security Committee.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-New York) voiced similar concerns over Greene’s placement on that committee.
“As the former Vice Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, I’m HORRIFIED that it was just announced that Marjorie Taylor Greene will serve on the committee,” Torres tweeted. “A QAnon conspiracy theorist + Jan 6 insurrectionist doesn’t belong on a committee that exists to fight extremism.
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