Well, there’s trouble in paradise.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) was furious — as she herself put it — on Tuesday morning over her fellow House Republicans who were threatening to derail the push by House GOP leader Kevin McCarthy for Speaker. That list included Matt Gaetz and Lauren Boebert, both of whom Greene called out by name in comments to the media. It’s not just a majority of Republicans who must back McCarthy for his campaign for House Speaker to prove successful. It’s an overall House majority, so the thin GOP majority means just a few defectors could have a significant impact.
Greene said several of those pushing back against Kevin were seeking special favors in committee assignments. “I haven’t asked for one thing for myself, and I’m the only Republican that has zero committees,” as she recapped the situation. “I find out that it’s my Freedom Caucus colleagues and my supposed friends that went and did that, and they asked nothing for me… That’s what I found out in there. I am furious.”
Greene then singled out fellow Republicans including Gaetz, Scott Perry, and Chip Roy. Among other points of contention, she noted how Gaetz — for all his tough guy talk trying to position himself as a staunch defender of Trumpism and opposing the kind of traditional conservatism represented by past House Speaker Paul Ryan — actually previously supported Ryan while Greene was still a private citizen and, she said, among those in opposition. She also noted large amounts of financial support tracing back to McCarthy for Boebert in her barely successful re-election bid in the midterms. Greene proceeded to blast the slant towards a popularity contest she insisted recent negotiations over the Speaker role were taking. “This is not about prom king. This is not about a pastor,” she told reporters. “This is about electing a person to sit in the Speaker chair so that we can all get to work.”
Greene also tore into the notion those derailing the McCarthy push for Speaker have some kind of special status. McCarthy has shown his interest in allowing for and joining up with the kind of far-right ideology trumpeted by Gaetz and the others, but it was unclear it was enough, even though he even expressed support for the idea of blindly opposing legislative priorities from Republican Senators who voted for a recently passed government spending package covering the bulk of this fiscal year. Watch below:
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene: "I haven't asked for one thing for myself and I'm the only Republican that has zero committees…I find out it's my Freedom Caucus colleagues and my supposed friends that went and did that and they asked nothing for me…I am furious." pic.twitter.com/BdOYci0LwZ
— CSPAN (@cspan) January 3, 2023
