Utah’s four members of the House, all Republicans, voted Thursday against stripping committee assignments from Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., because of her support of QAnon, conspiracy theories and comments advocating violence. However, the measure passed the House on a mostly party-line 230-199 vote.
Reps. Chris Stewart, John Curtis and Blake Moore, R-Utah, denounced Taylor Greene’s actions and comments as abhorrent, but said it should be the responsibility of Republicans — not Democrats — to punish her.
“I condemn the hateful comments Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene made prior to coming to Congress. They are abhorrent and do not represent the values or beliefs of the Republican Party,” Stewart wrote in a statement.
“While I believe she must be held accountable, this is not a decision for [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and the Democrats. This is nothing more than a hypocritical political stunt by Democrat who refuse to take similar actions against certain members of their party.”
Curtis wrote, “Rep. Greene’s past rhetoric and conduct are completely inappropriate and unbecoming of a member of Congress. However, for all of modern history, each party has chosen its own committee membership, and therefore it is the responsibility of the Republican caucus to hold her to a higher standard.”
Curtis added, “Many members on both sides of the aisle have engaged in questionable and offensive behavior during their time in Congress. I agree that Rep. Greene should be punished for her actions, but if we are going to punish her by voting as a whole Congress, we must first have consistent standards applied for all members. Until those standards are adopted, I cannot support removing her, or any member, from their committee seats.”
“I unequivocally condemn Rep. Majorie Taylor Greene’s harmful words and actions,” Moore said.
“This is nothing short of a political move by the Democrats to set a dangerous precedent by giving the majority the power to control the decisions of the minority,” he added. “For this reason I did not vote to remove Rep. Greene from her committee assignments at this time.” But he said if she reverts to her previous rhetoric, “I will certainly call on Republican leadership to hold her accountable.”
Rep. Burgess Owens, R-Utah, also released a statement saying, “Georgia’s 14th District elected Rep. Greene, and today’s attempt to strip her committee assignments sets a dangerous new precedent for this institution. The Democrats are showing just how unserious they are about governing — again.”
Owens previously has been involved in QAnon controversy of his own. Former Democratic Rep. Ben McAdams, whom Owens defeated last year, had called for Owens to disavow QAnon conspiracy theory after appearing to embrace it in a radio appearance.
Last week, Utah Sen. Mitt Romney attacked Taylor Greene in a tweet for spreading “nonsense” about the presidential election being stolen from former President Donald Trump.
After she tweeted that she had Trump’s support now, Romney replied, ”Lies of a feather flock together: Marjorie Taylor Greene’s nonsense and the ‘big lie’ of a stolen election.”
