Georgia’s embattled GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene reacted to her removal from House committee assignments on Friday, alternatively blasting Democrats for the vote while saying her positions on the committees would have been a waste of her time. 

What You Need To Know

  • GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene held a press conference on Friday in reaction to Thursday's House vote to remove her from the Budget panel and the Education and Labor committee

  • Thursday's vote was 230-199, with 11 Republican lawmakers voting for Greene's committee removal 

  • Greene on Friday said the decision "stripped" her district "of their voice" but also said the committee assignments would have been a "waste" of her time

  • Greene said she will use her ample free time to meet with constituents in her home state, and also continue to cast conservative votes on House issues

The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday voted 230-199 in favor of removing Greene from her assignments on the Budget panel and the Education and Labor Committee. Only 11 Republicans voted in favor of the resolution, including Reps. Adam Kinzinger (IL-16), Brian Fitzpatrick (PA-01), Nicole Malliotakis (NY-11) and John Katko (NY-24). 

Greene on Friday began a press conference by telling reporters she truly supports freedom of the press, adding that she thinks “it's one of the things that makes our country great.” But she also blamed the media for “reporting and repeating maybe some things that you don't like about me, or things that were on social media in 2018.” 

“I really hope that you'll be able to tell my story a little bit better, instead of just reporting and repeating maybe some things that you don't like about me, or things that were on social media in 2018,” she said.

Thursday’s vote to strip Greene of her committee assignments came after numerous social media posts — most from before she was elected to Congress — were unearthed or re-circulated online in the past several weeks. She also became one of the most prominent supporters of QAnon, the online conspiracy theory that has promoted falsehoods about Democrats and celebrities and is believed by many Americans on the far right.

One widely circulated video from 2019 showed Greene harassing Parkland survivor David Hogg at the U.S. Capitol, accusing him of “trying to take away my Second Amendment rights.” Greene also once suggested in an online video that Pelosi could be executed for treason.

The freshman lawmaker on Friday apologized for "saying all those things that are wrong,” adding: “I think it's good to say when we've done something wrong,” without specifying which of her previous statements she was referring to. Greene later clarified she was “not sorry” for telling Hogg not to advocate for gun control.

Greene said her removal from committee assignments stripped Georgia voters of their constitutional right to representation, slamming both the Democrats and select Republicans who voted against her. Greene was elected to represent Georgia’s 14th district in the 2020 election cycle.  

“When the Democrats and 11 of my Republican colleagues decided to strip me of my committee assignments ... You know what they did? They actually stripped my district of their voice. They stripped my voters of having representation to work for them for the budget,” Greene said Friday.

Greene specifically addressed the group of Republicans who voted for her committee removal, saying it’s something House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy “should be very upset about.”

But Greene also repeatedly said she was “fine with being kicked off of my committees, because they would be a waste of my time.” The 46-year-old accused the government of being “tyrannical,” since Democrats control both the House and the Senate, adding: “Republicans have no say on committees anyway.”

Instead, Greene said she will use her ample free time to meet with constituents in her home state and also continue the job her voters sent her to do — which Greene says is to vote extremely conservative and push the party to the right.