Marjorie Taylor Greene, one of the House’s most vocal conservative culture warriors, is now feeling the sting of the far-right’s backlash after a perceived betrayal on her part.
The Georgia congresswoman and ally of Donald Trump was booted out of the right-wing House Freedom Caucus last month, a member told Politico on Thursday, as a rift grows between her and some of the most conservative members of her party.
At issue are two instances — Ms Greene’s vote to support a debt ceiling deal reached between House Speaker Kevin McCarthy and the White House, which conservatives complained was insufficient in its cuts of federal programs, and her recent spat with Rep Lauren Boebert, another member of the caucus.
The Colorado-hailing Ms Boebert recently revealed to reporters that Ms Greene had called her a “little b****” during a dispute in a bathroom off of the House floor amid their growing dispute this spring — a confrontation that was the main reason cited by Rep Andy Harris in his explanation to Politico on Thursday.
“A vote was taken to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Freedom Caucus for some of the things she’s done,” Mr Harris said, adding: “I think the way she referred to a fellow member was probably not the way we expect our members to refer to other fellow, especially female, members,”
He added that “all of that mattered”, referring to the debt ceiling vote as well, but reiterated: “I think the straw that broke the camel's back was publicly saying things about another member in terms that no one should.”
Mr Harris noted, however, that Ms Boebert herself had voted against the removal of her colleague.
It’s an embarrassing blow for Ms Greene, and further pushes her away from the mechanisms of power in the lower chamber. She had previously, as noted by liberal Twitter account PatriotTakes, lavished the caucus with praise and stated that it was the only ideological group in the House she was interested in being a part of.
She has tried to foster a burgeoning relationship and possible alliance with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy in recent months, but how politically helpful that will be in her deep-red district, where loyalty to the party establishment is often seen as a negative factor, remains to be seen.
