First-term Democratic Rep. Becca Balint (Vt.) made a move to force a vote on her resolution to censure Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R) over the firebrand Georgia congresswoman’s many controversial comments — and in part as a response to Greene’s move to force a vote to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.).
Balint’s move Thursday on the privileged resolution gives the House two legislative days to consider the measure on the House floor. The chamber returns Wednesday.
The resolution, first introduced in July, is a laundry list of around 40 points of grievance against Greene, many of which list her specific comments and the dates on which she said them — with Greene’s showing images of Hunter Biden in a House hearing being the most recent.
After making the move on the House floor Thursday, an impassioned Balint railed against newly minted Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) and Greene, who earlier in the day also brought up a privileged motion to force a vote on censuring Tlaib over accusations of “antisemitic activity” and “sympathizing with terrorist organizations.”
“The fact that on the very first day of his leadership, he lets Marjorie Taylor Greene bring to the floor a resolution that is riddled with lies and falsehoods on my colleague — it won’t stand,” Balint said.
“This woman, Marjorie Taylor Greene — it seems to be her only purpose is to sic Americans after other Americans, to fend more hatred, to fan more dissension and fear-mongering,” Balint said. “We have got to have a bottom here.”
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Balint also accused Johnson, who has a history of opposing same-sex marriage, of “trying to take away my rights as a gay American.”
Greene’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But after the resolution was introduced in July, Greene brushed it off.
“I don’t know who this freshman Democrat is. They must have terrible fundraising numbers because they’re pulling some ridiculous stunt,” Greene said in July. “Looks like four pages of slander, because I looked at the first few lines and I was like, ‘That’s not even true.’”
It’s unlikely the House will vote on the resolution directly; it would likely instead vote on a procedural move to table it — essentially killing the resolution.
Asked if she has talked to any Republicans about the resolution, Balint said: “If they can’t vote for it, they have no moral compass.”
Greene has been reprimanded by House Democrats in the past, but not officially censured by the House.
Balint’s resolution takes issue with Greene visiting Jan. 6 inmates in a Washington jail and calling it the “patriot wing,” calling Muslim members of Congress part of the “Jihad Squad” and appearing at a white nationalist event — although Greene later said she had no idea the event was linked to white nationalism and condemned its leader. The resolution also cites Greene’s comparing COVID-19 vaccinations to Nazis forcing Jewish people to wear a star, along with other grievances.
In 2021, Greene was stripped of her committee assignments soon after being sworn into office as punishment for her posts about conspiracy theories and liking a Facebook comment that called for the assassination of former Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.). Balint mentioned that in her resolution.