On Friday, Feb. 5, Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, of Georgia’s 14th Congressional district, was stripped of her Congressional Committee duties, following numerous controversial and offensive comments being brought to light in recent weeks. Greene made statements inciting and supporting political violence and actively perpetuated baseless conspiracy theories, as well as making anti-Semitic and anti-Muslim statements. 

Additionally, Greene has been exceedingly vocal about the Election being fraudulent, making President Joe Biden out to be an illegitimate president. She supported and promoted theories of the QAnon conspiracy, claimed that 9/11 wasn’t real and questioned whether or not certain mass shootings were “staged.” On top of everything, Greene made numerous statements in recent years that were grossly anti-Muslim and anti-Semitic, as she is quoted saying, “Wtf is their (the American Muslim Women Political Action Committee) mission??? To make sure every woman is dominated by Islam, is covered in sheets, loses our freedoms,” according to CNN. 

She also insinuated that the wildfires in California were caused by space lasers controlled by Rothschild investment bank, a company owned by the Rothschild family, who are Jewish and continually subject to anti-Semitic criticism, according to Insider. 

When these horrific statements were brought to light, action was quickly taken to start the procedure of removing Greene from the Budget, Education and Labor committees. The House voted 230-199 in favor of removing Greene. including 11 Republicans legislators. 

Greene’s comments, accusations and conspiracies are disgusting and unprofessional, and it is a relief that she is being held accountable for her actions. However, in the past week, this woman has gone from being a lesser-known politician from rural Georgia, to, as Vogue deemed her, “the face of the GOP.”

Is the Congressional action being taken to hold Greene accountable actually giving her the platform she needs to boost her political career?

Greene is relishing in the spotlight. The Atlanta Journal Constitution reported that Greene raised $1.6 million in the wake of her dismissal and claimed that the criticism she was receiving in the media “only strengthened her base.”

In a press conference on Friday, following the dismissal from her congressional committees, Greene said that she had been “freed.” She went on to say that she was looking forward to having more time on her hands to “talk to a whole lot more people all over this country and […] make connections and build a huge amount of support that I’ve already got started with.” 

In other words, Greene plans on using all of her new-found spare time to continue to perpetuate the far-right agenda. Green continued to explain that her objectives from here included “holding the Republican county accountable” by pushing them to be more conservative, according to The Washington Post. 

Greene is an example of the extreme, Trump-worshiping part of the GOP that seeks to divide the Republican party itself, lean into wild conspiracies and use fear as a tactic to gain support. Senator Pat Toomey, a Republican from Pennsylvania, said in a CNN interview that “there should be no place for conspiracy theories and madness in the GOP.” This shows that the established members of the GOP see people and politicians like Greene as a threat that will lead them towards implosion, and therefore need to be held accountable and stopped. 

In a time of multifaceted division throughout the country, is it exceedingly important that politicians are working together rather than dividing further. Representatives like Greene claim to have the wellbeing of Americans at the forefront of their agenda, but in reality, they repeatedly offend citizens and take advantage of their own mistakes, using them as an opportunity to promote their personal agenda. 

I think it is more important now than ever to hold our leaders accountable, and removing Greene from her positions was a step in the right direction. But I hesitate to celebrate this because I think all the media attention Greene has received in the past week could further ignite her constituency and serve to promote her career. Our job as voters is to continue to hold our legislators to a high standard and recognize that discriminatory statements like Greene’s are unacceptable.