Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA) and Paul Gosar (R-AZ) have been reinstated to House committees after being removed from committee assignments during the last Congress.
These appointments were made on Tuesday by the House GOP Steering Committee.
Greene was named to the Homeland Security Committee and the Oversight and Accountability Committee, the latter of which is leading an investigation into the financial activity of the Biden family, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
“We will return the role of the Oversight Committee to investigating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement of the federal government, which is exactly what the American people are fed up with,” Greene said at the time. “Joe Biden, be prepared.”
In February 2021, Greene was removed from the Committee on Education and the Workforce and the Budget Committee for social media posts predating her election that critics claimed promoted “extremism and sedition.”
In November of the same year, the House voted to censure Gosar and remove him from the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Reform after he posted an edited anime video on Twitter that depicted him killing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) and attacking President Joe Biden.
Gosar has reportedly been reinstated to both the Committee on Natural Resources and the Committee on Oversight and Reform.
House Speaker Kevin McCarthy pledged in 2021 to restore Greene and Gosar to their respective committees if Republicans regained control of the House — which they did following the November midterms.
On Wednesday, the White House lambasted these appointments and accused Republicans of “handing the keys of oversight to the most extreme MAGA members of the Republican caucus who promote violent rhetoric and dangerous conspiracy theories.”
“As we have said before, the Biden Administration stands ready to work in good faith to accommodate Congress’ legitimate oversight needs,” said White House spokesperson Ian Sams. “However, with these members joining the Oversight Committee, it appears that House Republicans may be setting the stage for divorced-from-reality political stunts, instead of engaging in bipartisan work on behalf of the American people.”
Members of the Committee on Oversight and Reform also reacted.
“The English language runs out of adjectives to describe the debasement, cynical debasement of the whole process these appointments represent,” said Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-VA), chairman of the Oversight Subcommittee on Government Operations. “And it is, I think, a huge black mark on Kevin McCarthy.”
Oversight Committee Chair James Comer (R-KY) told Politico that he is “excited about” the roster. “I think it’s full of quality members, who are passionate about rooting out waste, fraud and abuse in the federal government.”
Rep. George Santos (R-NY), who has been embroiled in controversy after admitting to fabricating aspects of his personal and professional records during his campaign, was named to the Committee on Small Business and the Committee on Science, Space, and Technology.
As previously reported by The Dallas Express, some members of Santos’ own party have called on the newly elected congressman to resign from his seat.
