Marjorie Taylor Greene Appointment Leaves Ex-Home Sec Member 'Horrified'

Reports saying that the House GOP Steering Committee has agreed to place Marjorie Taylor Greene on the House Homeland Security Committee—which oversees the Department of Homeland Security and has jurisdiction on border security—has outraged former Democratic members.

New York Democrat Ritchie Torres, former vice chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, said on Tuesday that he's "horrified" that GOP hardliner Greene was to be placed on the committee.

"As the former Vice Chair of the House Homeland Security Committee, I'm HORRIFIED that it was just announced that Marjorie Taylor Greene will serve on the committee," he tweeted on Tuesday.

"A QAnon conspiracy theorist + Jan 6 insurrectionist doesn't belong on a committee that exists to fight extremism," he said.

"This is who Kevin McCarthy thinks is qualified to serve on the HOMELAND SECURITY Committee #NotTheOnion," tweeted California's 14th congressional district Representative Eric Swalwell, joking that the announcement of Greene's new role wasn't a mockery by satirical publication The Onion.

News of the decision by the House GOP Steering Committee was first reported by CNN, who quoted sources saying that the panel voted unanimously in support of Greene's placement on the House Homeland Security Committee. The panel also recommended that she serves on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability.

On the same day, the steering panel reportedly agreed to place Arizona Representative Paul Gosar on the House Committee on Natural Resources, where he previously served.

The decision to place the Georgia Republican on the Homeland Security Committee is not final yet, as it still need to be ratified by the entire House GOP. But members are expected to follow the steering panel's judgement.

Greene had previously lost her committee seats because of the many incendiary, controversial remarks she made before being elected to Congress. In February 2021, the then Democratic-led House voted to remove the Georgia representative from her committee assignments for pushing dangerous conspiracy theories online, spreading antisemitic and anti-Muslim messages and showing her support for calls to execute prominent Democrats, including Nancy Pelosi.

One day before the House voted to remove Greene from any committee assignment, then-House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy had refused to take action against the Georgia representative.

While all members of Congress typically get committee seats, Greene spent the last two years without a seat on any House panel.

Her return into a House committee now comes after she has consistently and vocally supported McCarthy's bid for House speakership, even at the cost of clashing with some of her fellow Freedom Caucus members, including hardliners Lauren Boebert and Matt Gaetz.

In a statement shared on Tuesday, Greene said she was "honored" to serve on the House Committee on Oversight and Accountability, which she defined as "arguable [...] the most important committee this Congress."

"Joe Biden, be prepared," she wrote. "We are going to uncover every corrupt business dealing, every foreign entanglement, every abuse of power, and every check cut for The Big Guy."

Commenting on her placement on the House Homeland Security Committee, she said Republicans will "investigate the Biden administration's violations of our laws."

Newsweek has contacted Greene's team for comment.