Things turned vulgar on the House floor on Thursday, and I’m not talking about the obscene actions of Democrats after Adam Schiff was justifiably censured for years of falsehoods.
In a completely unrelated discussion, Marjorie Taylor Greene approached Lauren Boebert and expressed outrage at the latter’s recent move to introduce articles of impeachment against Joe Biden. Things got spicier from there, with Green reportedly calling Boebert a “little b***h” during the exchange.
Saw this conversation… not sure if it was a friendly one pic.twitter.com/tpz3z2Phtv
— Acyn (@Acyn) June 21, 2023
“I’ve donated to you, I’ve defended you. But you’ve been nothing but a little bitch to me,” Greene (R-Ga.) reportedly told Boebert (R-Colo.). “And you copied my articles of impeachment after I asked you to cosponsor them.”
After Greene cursed her colleague out, Boebert responded by shrugging her shoulders and saying, “OK, Marjorie, we’re through,” the report said.
“We were never together,” Greene reportedly shot back, as Boebert had her back turned.
Greene’s anger seems to stem from the fact that Boebert introduced her articles of impeachment (which followed Greene’s similar introduction in May) with a procedural measure that will force a vote without further planning or coordination. House leadership opposes that move because it could allow a failed vote to impeach Biden before there’s been time to whip support or make changes that could garner said support.
In short, Greene is accusing Boebert of doing what she did for clout and donations instead of it being a real attempt to impeach the current president.
“Lauren Boebert never addressed the conference,” Greene remarked. “I made it clear to the conference that I have introduced articles of impeachment, literally since Joe Biden’s first day in office.”
“I have been talking about it with everybody forever,” she added. “Literally, everyone. Forever, ‘til I’m blue in the face. You see me? I’m blue in the face.”
“I was sitting down, and so I stood up and I said, ‘I’m happy to clarify my public statements to your face,’” Greene told Semafor.
“I told her exactly what I think about her,” she asserted. “It’s purely for fundraising. It’s throwing out red meat so that people will donate to her campaign because she’s coming up on the end of the month, and she’s trying to produce good fundraising numbers.”
“She has genuinely been a nasty little b*tch to me,” Greene also told Semafor.
Furthering the frustration of Greene and House leadership is that Boebert was offered the chance to speak about her articles of impeachment in front of the GOP conference on Wednesday. She did not accept that offer, instead bringing it to the floor alone.
After the dust-up on the floor, Boebert was quoted as saying, “Like I said, I’m not in middle school.”
So who’s right and who’s wrong in this feud? I think it depends on what you want to see from House Republicans. Do you want loud, clanging noises or do you want some kind of actual plan to accomplish things?
Boebert forcing a vote on her articles of impeachment of Joe Biden without even addressing the conference first is obviously the former. That’s not to say Greene’s introduction of articles of impeachment in May wasn’t also largely about publicity, but she did leave the door open for the normal process to happen without forcing an early vote that would almost certainly fail.
Frustration over House Republicans not impeaching numerous Biden administration members, including Biden himself, is legitimate. But the answer isn’t to ignore the rest of the GOP conference because all that does is ensure the push to impeach Biden blows up before it ever gets off the ground.
Further, Boebert’s resolution focuses on Biden’s decision-making regarding the Southern border, but that’s the wrong path to take, in my opinion. The easy lay-up is impeaching the president for his illegal retention of classified documents. Biden committed a felony (but can’t be indicted while president), and that satisfies the traditional requirement for impeachment. From there, you can attach other provisions to also be investigated during the committee stage.
I understand that’s not the answer a lot of people want to hear, but the only way a vote to impeach Biden (or Merrick Garland and Alejandro Mayorkas) actually makes it through what is already a contentious and tiny GOP majority is if leadership is at the forefront and every box is checked. That means the timeline may not be to everyone’s liking, but there’s really no other path to success.
Regardless, there’s a lot of clout-chasing within a certain segment of the GOP caucus, and it needs to stop. Both Greene and Boebert have been guilty of that. They aren’t helping anyone by having public fights on the House floor. They also aren’t helping anyone by pushing flashy spectacles that ultimately have no teeth. Impeaching Biden should be about actually seeing Biden impeached, not fundraising and social media likes.
