McConnell decries lawmaker’s ‘loony lies’

WASHINGTON — Republican Senate leader Mitch McConnell denounced newly elected Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday, calling the far-right Georgia Republican’s embrace of conspiracy theories and “loony lies” a “cancer for the Republican Party.”

“Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality,” said McConnell, R-Ky. “This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party.”

The statement comes as House Democrats are mounting an effort to formally rebuke Greene, who has a history of making racist remarks, embracing conspiracy theories and endorsing violence directed at Democrats. It also puts pressure on House Republican leaders to discipline her.

Democrats have teed up action Wednesday to send a resolution to the House floor that would strip Greene of assignments on the House education and budget committees, if House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., doesn’t do so first.

Some Democrats have called for going further and expelling Greene from the House — an unlikely outcome that would require backing from Republicans, since expulsion requires a two-thirds vote. Another option is censure.

Democrats’ willingness to act against a member of the opposing party underscores their desire to confront far-right politicians, like Greene, who are closely aligned with some of former President Donald Trump’s fringe supporters, including extremist groups that were involved in the violent Capitol insurrection. It also shines a light on the GOP’s reluctance to punish Trump supporters in their ranks for fear of alienating some of the former president’s most ardent voters.

“If Republicans won’t police their own, the House must step in,” said Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz, D-Fla., who is sponsoring the measure to remove Greene from the committees.

In a tweet over the weekend, Greene sounded a defiant tone. She also said she had spoken to Trump and was “grateful for his support.”