Democrats scrap plans to vote on Greene censure resolution

House Democrats scrapped plans to vote on a resolution to censure Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Wednesday, a last-minute move that came immediately after a coalition of Republicans joined with Democrats in torpedoing a resolution to censure Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-Mich.) over her criticism of Israel.

The two censure measures were largely viewed as tit-for-tat efforts. Greene moved to force a vote on her resolution censuring Tlaib last week, taking aim at her criticisms of Israel in the wake of last month’s deadly attacks by Hamas.

Soon after Greene launched her effort, first-term Rep. Becca Balint (D-Vt.) used the same procedural gambit to force a vote on her resolution — which she introduced in July — to censure the Georgia Republican for controversial comments she has made over the past five years, setting the stage for Wednesday’s referendum.

The House was slated to vote on a Democrat-led effort to “table” the resolution Wednesday evening. But after 23 Republicans joined Democrats in voting to table the Tlaib resolution, which blocked the measure from hitting the floor, Balint said she would “hold back on the vote for now.”

“The fact remains that my Republican colleagues have allowed Rep. Greene to spew hatred and bigotry for far too long. Vermonters sent me to Congress to uphold the values of fairness and truth, and to protect our democracy. That means speaking out against a bully. I was fully prepared to move my resolution forward, and I plan to call this up for a vote at any time should we see continued vile rhetoric from Rep. Greene and her colleagues,” Balint said in a statement.

But she added, “when 23 Republicans said ‘no’ to Rep. Greene’s bigotry, I saw this situation a little differently. I want to thank them for doing the right thing. And I’m going to hold back on the vote for now.”

Balint’s resolution, which stretches eight pages, is a compilation of contentious remarks Greene made both before and after she arrived on Capitol Hill in 2021. Its summary accusation is that Greene “has repeatedly fanned the flames of racism, antisemitism, LGBTQ hate speech, Islamophobia, anti-Asian hate, xenophobia, and other forms of hatred.”

Specifically, the resolution cited Greene’s previous endorsement of the 9/11 truther conspiracy theory — which posits that the federal government orchestrated the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 — accusing the congresswoman of “debas[ing] the memories of thousands of victims of the terrorist attacks.”

It also takes aim at Greene for her ardent defense of the pro-Trump rioters who stormed the Capitol on Jan. 6, 2021, charging her with “repeatedly assault[ing] the foundation of our democracy by perpetuating conspiracy theories” related to the rampage.

The most-recent grievance included in the resolution was when Greene displayed sexually explicit posters featuring Hunter Biden, President Biden’s son, during a Congressional hearing in July.