Disagreements on dealing with Reps. George Santos (R-NY) and Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) turned personal as the House jumps from a drawn-out Speaker election to controversy and bickering.
The escalated tensions in an emotionally weary Republican conference could complicate Speaker Mike Johnson’s (R-LA) efforts to address aid to Israel and pass appropriations bills.
WATCH — Hoyer: We Won’t Support GOP Bill Making Israel Aid “Conditional” — We Have Condition of Tying It to Ukraine:
Wednesday night the House voted 222-186 to table a resolution to censure Tlaib for her anti-Semitic statements and for allegedly arranging an illegal pro-Hamas protest that saw hundreds arrested from a House office building.
The resolution was introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA).
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) speaks during a news conference on Capitol Hill in Washington on May 18, 2023. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)
Greene took to X to name the 23 Republicans voting to table as well as the 11 Republicans who did not vote.
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX), who says he believes Tlaib deserves censure, took issue with the resolution’s use of the word “insurrection” to describe the illegal pro-Hamas protests in the Capitol complex. He was one of the votes to table the resolution.
WATCH — Dem Rep. Auchincloss: Disinformation Spreader Tlaib Doesn’t Speak for Us — She Falsely Conflates Hamas with Civilians:
Greene took issue with Roy’s explanation, accusing him on X of hating Trump and voting to certify the 2020 election. She also vented frustration that Roy, according to Greene, voted to kick her out of the House Freedom Caucus.
Oh shut up Colonel Sanders, you’re not even from Texas, more like the DMV.
— Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene🇺🇸 (@RepMTG) November 2, 2023
Chip Roy’s career exist of working for politicians, working for campaigns for politicians, and being a politician himself.
Unity Party all the way!
Which is why you will never hold anyone accountable. https://t.co/RejH3yDqdM
Roy fired back, telling reporters, “Tell her to go chase so-called Jewish space lasers if she wants to spend time on that sort of thing.”
Rep. Chip Roy (R-TX) speaks outside of the U.S. Capitol on May 30, 2023. (Bill Clark/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
The escalation continued with Greene calling Roy “Colonel Sanders.”
The House also defeated a resolution to expel Santos 179-213, with the resolution falling far short of the two-thirds support needed. Thirty-one Democrats voted against the resolution.
The embattled Santos is under scrutiny for a litany of allegations that he fabricated his background and committed fraud. He has pleaded not guilty to an indictment in New York.
Santos’s New York delegation Republican colleagues have led the push on the GOP side of the aisle to expel Santos and vow to continue their crusade to expel him from Congress.
The issue is unlikely to go away, regardless of how Santos’s case plays out in court. The House Ethics Committee took the unusual step of announcing it would finish its investigations into Santos by November 17, giving members cover to vote against expulsion for now.
Meanwhile, Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT) backed off efforts to force a vote on her resolution to censure Greene over controversial comments made before her election that Balint and Democrats plead are antisemitic.
Follow Bradley Jaye on Twitter at @BradleyAJaye.
