Rep. Comer floats adding Marjorie Taylor Greene to Oversight committee if GOP wins House
Rep. James Comer is floating adding polarizing Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene to the influential Oversight Committee if Republicans win back the House next month.
In a statement to the New York Times for a profile on Greene, Comer said, “if Americans entrust Republicans with the majority next Congress, we look forward to the Steering Committee adding new GOP members to the committee like Rep. Greene with energy and a strong interest in partnering with us in our efforts to rein in the unaccountable Swamp and to hold the Biden administration accountable for its many self-inflicted crises that it has unleashed on the American people.”
Greene, who is known as one of the most combustible members of Congress for clashes with her House colleagues and dabbling in conspiracy theories, was stripped of her committee assignments early in President Biden’s term for past comments that included encouraging violence against Democratic officials.
Comer’s comments indicate she is likely to reclaim power on a committee that will spend its time investigating Biden’s administration. The Kentucky congressman is in line to chair the committee in 2023, pending the outcome of the midterm elections. Republicans need to add just six seats to their caucus in order to win back control.
Comer has promised to pursue an aggressive agenda as a committee chairman, including probing Hunter Biden’s actions in business deals that he believes compromise the country’s national security.
“Where’s the FBI in all of this? Why haven’t they already charged Hunter Biden?,” Comer asked on Newsmax. “Because Hunter Biden is a national security risk. We all know he’s a shady business character. The problem is he’s probably influenced his father in several important decisions, so he’s compromised this White House.”
Comer’s referring to Hunter Biden’s multi-million dollar financial arrangements with companies in foreign countries like China and Ukraine.
If Comer brings Greene onto the committee, she would automatically become one of the most combative members.
It’s unclear how many other Republicans would welcome Greene as a leading voice to challenge the Biden administration.
After Greene appeared at an event last spring organized by a white nationalist who praised Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said “there’s no place in the Republican Party for white supremacists.”
Greene has been an agitator to McConnell, recently telling Steve Bannon that electing Blake Masters to a Senate seat in Arizona could deny McConnell another term as leader of the party.
“Mitch McConnell is pulling his support and pulling money from backing Blake Masters for Senate, and he’s doing that because Blake Masters is not the type of senator Mitch McConnell wants in Washington,” Greene told Bannon last month. “But Arizona has an opportunity that only they can pull off. If they elect Blake Masters and send him to the Senate here in Washington, D.C., they are going to be cutting the head off the snake and defeating Mitch McConnell, the RINO that has controlled the Senate for years now. This is the message that needs to be sent to Washington, Steve.”
