While nearly a dozen Republicans voted against tabling the motion to vacate, the vast majority were outraged Wednesday night that Georgia GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene went through with a move that was going to fail and show party disunity ahead of the election.
“She’s trying to take out our Speaker of the United States Congress over her preference on a policy decision,” Rep. John Duarte said. “We are protecting the world from her inappropriate behavior. I am surprised she has even one ally. Thomas Massie should be embarrassed of himself.”
Rep. Dusty Johnson of South Dakota called Greene’s behavior “destructive” and warned it would sow discord.
“All of us in life get to decide how we handle disappointment. You can be productive or you can be destructive. Ms. Taylor Greene is choosing destructive,” he said. “We know that this motion is not going to do one thing to make America stronger. It’s not going to do one thing to deliver a conservative victory. It’s going to sow discord and dissent.”
But Republicans who backed the House speaker say they are divided about whether or not to punish those who voted against tabling the resolution.
Duarte said with a narrow majority, administering consequences is difficult. “Her voters need to deliver consequences to her,” he added.
Johnson also argued that consequences may not work, adding that “people need to sit down and analyze what’s possible and make the institution stronger.”
“There may be people interested in punishment. I’m not interested in punishment. That doesn’t work,” Johnson said. “For me, my question is what rules do we need in place so the House can function.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Marc Molinaroa vulnerable New York Republican, said there should be consequences but he wasn’t ready to commit to punishing Greene now.
“At some point, accountability needs to be real, but I think what we learned today was that no amount of noise overshadows the truth and the truth is that a good number of us just want to get back to work,” Molinaro said.
