A House Oversight Committee hearing led to chaos Thursday night as a heated exchange erupted between Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez over "fake eyelashes."
It led to nearly an hour of disorder in the committee, which was discussing a markup to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress. Lawmakers were seen screaming over one another and hurling insults, with Chairman James Comer struggling to restore order.
The chaos started when the two popular lawmakers attacked each other after Greene, a Republican, made a remark about Jasmine Crockett, a first-time lawmaker, wearing "fake eyelashes".
When Greene asked if any Democrats on the panel were employing the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Trump's hush money trial in Manhattan, Crockett questioned what that has to do with Garland.
"Do you know what we're here for?" asked Crockett.
As a response, Greene said: "I don't think you know what you're here for. I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you're reading."
The comment led to an outrage from Democrats. Jamie Raskin said: "That's beneath even you, Ms. Greene."
Ocasio-Cortez, another Democrat, jumped in to defend Crockett. "That's disgusting," she yelled.
"How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person."
"Are your feelings hurt?" Greene hit back at Ocasio-Cortez.
"Oh girl, oh baby girl, don't even play," the Democrat replied.
"Oh really, baby girl?" Greene replied.
The fiery exchange led to a short pause in the proceedings.
When the committee resumed, Greene said she would agree to strike her words, but Ocasio-Cortez demanded that the Republican lawmaker apologize to Crockett.
This request led to another escalation, with Greene lobbing an insult at Ocasio-Cortez.
The chaos peaked with a vote on whether to permit Greene to continue speaking during the hearing. The panel ultimately voted in favor of allowing her to proceed, with a narrow 22-20 vote.
Republican Lauren Boebert, who has had past conflicts with Greene, crossed party lines to vote against Greene's continuation. Boebert was seated just two seats away from Greene during the vote, adding to the tension in the room.
Finally, Republicans advanced their bid to hold Garland in contempt after he declined to provide the audio recording of President Biden's interview with special counsel Robert Hur.
The contempt vote passed 24-20 along party lines, following a similar decision by the House Judiciary Committee earlier in the day. The issue will now proceed to a vote by the full House.
