Marjorie Taylor Greene silenced by GOP-led committee after calling Mayorkas a ‘liar’

CNN

By Melanie Zanona, Annie Grayer, Haley Talbot and Kristin Wilson, CNN

House Homeland Security Chairman Mark Green barred GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from speaking further in a hearing after she called Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas a “liar” — a stunning example of how Greene’s extreme rhetoric led even members of her own party to shut her down, creating tensions inside the House GOP.

The outburst took up considerable time during the hearing and threatened to overshadow Mayorkas’s testimony — to the frustration of Republican committee members.

A source close to Green said the chairman was furious with the congresswoman’s behavior and planned to privately reprimand her, and also said he would encourage Speaker Kevin McCarthy to remove her from the committee if she ever had an outburst like that again.

Greene told CNN on Thursday she was “surprised and angered” over the incident and said she already spoke to McCarthy. “He agreed with me,” Greene said, indicating the speaker believed she shouldn’t have silenced. She also said McCarthy would never agree to pulling her off the committee. “Speaker McCarthy is never going to let that happen,” she said.

Greene told CNN later Thursday that she and Chairman Green had a chance to talk but that they disagreed about what happened at Wednesday’s committee meeting.

“He basically said that we have two different styles so we have a disagreement still about what took place yesterday, but, you know, I am still new to committees so I will make sure I am following the rules, which I do think is important, but at the same time I am still going to keep pushing,” Greene said.

Greene, a Georgia Republican, began her time during Wednesday’s hearing by going after Democratic Rep. Eric Swalwell of California, who had shown an Instagram photo of her calling to defund the FBI. Greene brought up an incident from several years ago, when Swalwell was targeted by a suspected Chinese intelligence operative as part of a broader effort to establish ties with US politicians. Swalwell cooperated with investigators and was never accused of any wrongdoing.

But Greene, without evidence, accused Swalwell of having an intimate relationship with the Chinese operative.

Immediately, Democratic Rep. Dan Goldman of New York moved to have those words removed from the record, calling them “completely inappropriate.” But the Republicans on the panel overruled and Greene refused to retract her comments.

When Greene began speaking again, she accused Mayorkas of letting fentanyl deaths occur and called him a “liar.”

When Mayorkas began to say, “Congresswoman, let me assure you that we’re not letting it go on,” Greene shot back with, “No, I reclaim my time. You’re a liar. You are letting this go on. And the numbers prove it.”

The top Democrat on the panel, Bennie Thompson of Mississippi, interjected, seeking to get Greene’s words taken down from the record for a second time. Even when given an opportunity to withdraw her remarks, Greene refused.

The panel’s Republican chairman then ruled that Greene could not speak the rest of the hearing.

“It’s pretty clear that the rules state you can’t impugn someone’s character. Identifying or calling someone a liar is unacceptable in this committee and I make the ruling that we strike those words,” said Green, a Tennessee Republican.

“When we strike it does terminate the time of the individual who is speaking, so the gentlelady is no longer recognized,” he added when Goldman asked for clarification.

Greene left shortly after she was silenced.

Tensions flare inside the GOP

Green defended his decision to silence the congresswoman, telling CNN Thursday her comments were a clear violation of the rules. But he also seemed to refute that McCarthy agreed with Greene’s contention that she shouldn’t have been silenced.

“I had a conversation that was maybe a little different with him,” Green said. Asked if the speaker agreed with his decision to silence Greene, the chairman said: “We didn’t really get into the details of it.”

Green also indicated she won’t lose her committee spot. “She understands and will comply with the rule.”

GOP lawmakers on the committee, speaking on condition of anonymity, told CNN that Greene’s behavior was an unnecessary distraction and complained they had to waste valuable hearing time over the dust-up.

Rep. Tony Gonzales of Texas, who called Greene a “friend” that he has hosted in his district, said the incident was “unfortunate” and supported the chairman’s decision to silence her.

“I thought he did a good job managing the committee as best as he could. But the sooner we can get back to kind of civility amongst colleagues, the better for everybody,” he told CNN.

“Maybe we need to get everybody on a plane and take a CODEL somewhere and not be in Washington,” he added.

Rep. Dan Bishop of North Carolina, who said he was not in the room when the incident occurred, told CNN he disagreed with Greene’s rhetoric but stood by her sentiment.

“The rules about parliamentary conduct are such so that we can maintain this body and continue to have a dialogue that is difficult to have, but you do it without hurling insults. But the issue that drove it is real,” Bishop said.

Another GOP committee member, Rep. Michael McCaul of Texas, said the party needs to keep its message focused on the border and dismissed questions about potential consequences for Greene’s behavior as “a McCarthy issue” and said it’s the “speaker’s call.”

This story has been updated with additional developments.

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CNN’s Manu Raju, Lauren Fox and Morgan Rimmer contributed to this report.