WASHINGTON – Criticism of one member’s “fake eyelashes” and another’s intelligence. A question about discussing a member’s “bleach blonde, poorly built butch body.”
A House Oversight Committee meeting turned chaotic Thursday night amid personal attacks and partisan bickering in a rare evening session centered on a resolution recommending that Attorney General Merrick Garland be held in contempt of Congress.
Rep. D-Texas. In response to a question from Jasmine Crockett, R-Ga., Rep. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., responded, “I think your fake eyelashes are confusing your reading. .”
Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, DN.Y. House Democrats immediately struck Green’s remarks off the record and forced Crockett to apologize.
“This is completely unacceptable,” Ocasio-Cortez said through cross-talk. “How dare you attack another person’s physical appearance?”
Green taunted Ocasio-Cortez, “Are your feelings hurt?”
“Oh, a girl? A girl,” Ocasio-Cortez snapped back. “Don’t even play.”
Green attacked a second member moments after criticizing Crockett, insisting Ocasio-Cortez lacked “enough intelligence” to debate.
Green asked Ocasio-Cortez, “Why don’t you debate me?”
The New York congresswoman responded that she thought it was “very obvious.”
“You don’t have enough intelligence,” Green said as members of Congress audibly growled at the Georgia lawmaker’s attack.
Green agreed to attack his comments on Crockett, but vehemently refused to apologize for the evening’s attacks, declaring, “You will not get an apology from me.”
Comer eventually ruled that Green’s disparagement of Crockett did not violate House rules against engaging in “personalities” during the debate, amid repeated demands by Democrats to strike Green’s words off the record and apologize. When Democratic ranking member Jamie Raskin tried to appeal the ruling, Republicans offered to put up or kill his appeal.
After the vote, Crockett asked for clarification on his ruling on personal attacks on members of Congress.
“I am anxious to better understand your judgment,” said Crockett. “If someone on this committee starts talking about someone’s bleach blonde, poorly built body, etc., it’s not about personalities, right?”
Chaos erupted again, with one member admonishing Crockett to “calm down.”
“I have two hearing aids. I’m profoundly deaf,” Comer said after taking cross-talk. “I don’t understand – everyone’s screaming. I’m doing my best.”
Committee Chairman, Rep. After Rep. James Comer, R-Ky., agreed to attack Green’s contempt of Ocasio-Cortez, Democrats sought to enforce committee rules that would have barred Green from speaking for the rest of the hearing. Republicans voted for him to speak.
He eventually called a short break amid debate over questions about the rule for members who were struck off the record but wanted to speak. On his return, he reminded members to observe “the standard of decorum of the congregation.”
Green was eventually allowed to speak for more than four minutes, during which he reiterated that he would not apologize.
“I will not apologize for my words, I will not change them,” Green said.
About an hour after the hearing adjourned, the panel again debated whether Garland should be held in contempt of Congress for refusing to hand over audio recordings of an interview he conducted with President Joe Biden’s secret adviser, Robert Hur.
Tensions were already high after a long day, with Republicans crowding Rusk’s opening remarks with interruptions.
The meeting was originally scheduled for 11 a.m., but was moved to 8 p.m. after several panel members traveled to New York to attend the hearing on former President Donald Trump.
The committee voted 24-20 along party lines to recommend holding Garland in contempt following a contentious Thursday night meeting. Speaker Mike Johnson’s office has not yet said when the contempt resolution will be brought before the full House.
