By Kanishka Singh
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, a staunch ally of former President Donald Trump, has been kicked out of the radical House Freedom Caucus group after clashing with a fellow lawmaker, a caucus member said.
The decision to expel Brandon Greene from the group of about three dozen hardliners came weeks after she engaged in a heated confrontation on the floor of the House of Representatives with her fellow representative of hardline Lauren Boebert over the latter’s plan to force a vote to impeach Democratic President Joe Biden.
“A vote was taken to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Freedom Caucus for some of the things she did,” Republican Rep. Andy Harris told Politico, adding that Greene’s support for the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Kevin McCarthy may also have contributed to his ousting from the group.
Harris declined to say how he voted, but called the decision to impeach the Georgia lawmaker, who is in her second two-year term, “appropriate action,” according to Politico.
In a statement to the media Thursday night, Greene did not directly address her membership in the Freedom Caucus but said, “In Congress, I serve Northwest Georgia first and do not serve any groups in Washington.”
Greene added, “The GOP has less than two years to show America what a strong, unified Republican-led Congress will do when President Trump wins the White House in 2024. That’s my goal, nothing wrong with it. ‘other.”
A spokesperson for the House Freedom Caucus, founded in 2015, said in an email: “HFC does not comment on membership or internal process.”
“I think the way she referred to another member was probably not how we expect our members to refer to other members, especially women,” Harris told Politico. , referring to Greene’s profane exchange with Boebert.
“I think the straw that broke the camel’s back was saying things publicly about another member in terms no one should.”
Politico said Harris was asked if Greene broke with the group over the debt limit bill or his support for McCarthy were also factors in his withdrawal. He replied, “I think it all counted.”
McCarthy faced a backlash from hardline Republicans, who accused him of betraying a deal that got him elected to lead the Republican-controlled House when he struck a deal with Biden on legislation compromise on the debt ceiling.
Hardline Republicans had said McCarthy and his leadership team failed to deliver on promised spending cuts and ignored their input.
Greene has been a controversial figure throughout his short political career. In 2021, when Democrats controlled the House, they stripped Greene of committee assignments for inflammatory remarks that included backing violence against political opponents. She later apologized for the comments.
(Reporting by Kanishka Singh and David Morgan; Editing by Doina Chiacu, Scott Malone and Daniel Wallis)