Democrats laugh after Greene calls for decorum in the House
Democrats burst out laughing on the House floor Wednesday when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) — who was presiding over the chamber — called for decorum.
The heckling came as House Majority Leader Steve Scalise (R-La.) delivered remarks on the floor on the debt ceiling, which was the subject of high-stakes negotiations between lawmakers in the GOP and the White House.
As Scalise urged the Senate and White House to take action to raise the borrowing limit — referencing the bill House Republicans passed last month — a lawmaker shouted in the chamber.
“We’re actually the only organization in this city that’s actually taken action to tackle the debt ceiling and the spending problem in Washington. I would encourage the Senate to pass the bill, I would encourage the president to step up and fix this, but we’ve already done that, the votes are on the board —” Scalise said before stalking. stop to react to the shouting.
It is unclear which lawmaker yelled and what he said.
“Order,” Green said from the stage, banging his gavel.
“I ask that the House be in order and that there be a little decorum on the other side,” Scalise said.
After a pause of about 15 seconds, Greene called for decorum in the bedroom.
“Members are reminded to respect decorum in the House,” she said.
Democrats in the chamber then burst out laughing. Some members — including Reps. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (DN.Y.) and Cori Bush (D-Mo.) — got up from their seats and started shouting.
The Hill contacted Greene for comment.
The reaction from Democrats was a reflection of the controversy swirling around Greene’s pompous behavior since arriving on Capitol Hill, which has occasionally played out on the House floor. During President Biden’s State of the Union address in February, the Georgia Republican shouted “liar” as the president delivered remarks on Social Security and Medicare.
And last month, Greene was silenced at a Homeland Security Committee hearing after accusing Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas of being a liar.
After the laughs, Greene said “the House will be in order” and acknowledged Scalise to continue talking on the floor.
“While some in this town might be interested in theater, House Republicans have taken action,” Scalise said, prompting groans in the chamber. “We passed a bill to fix the problem, it’s time for my friends across the way to start doing their job, Senate reminds to take the bill back.”
“If they don’t like it, they can change it, it’s part of the legislative process. Let’s do our job, we did ours, they have to do theirs,” he added.
Scalise went to the House on Wednesday to tell lawmakers they can leave Washington for Memorial Day weekend, but should be prepared to return to the Capitol with 24 hours’ notice to vote on a cap. of debt as negotiations over increasing the borrowing limit drag on.
For more than a week, Republican lawmakers and White House negotiators have been engaged in talks to reach an agreement. The pressure, however, has been mounting in recent days as the calendar moves closer to June 1 – the day Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen warned the United States could default.
After announcing the programming plans, House Minority Whip Katherine Clark (D-Mass.) spoke in the House to criticize the GOP bill and celebrate that all members of the Democratic caucus signed a discharge petition , which Liberal lawmakers hope can be used to force passage of legislation to increase the borrowing limit.
Democrats burst into applause.
While all 213 Democrats have signed the petition, the caucus needs five Republicans to join their efforts to meet the House majority threshold, which is needed to force a vote through the discharge petition. That, however, is an unlikely scenario as Chairman Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) has called on GOP lawmakers to stand behind him in negotiations.
Clark, however, called on Republicans to join the Democratic effort.
“It only takes five patriots to join us in the fight for the American people. Join us, sign the petition, stay here and fight for American families, fight for their American safety,” she added.
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