House hearing gets personal

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A House Oversight Committee hearing devolved into chaos Thursday night as Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) clashed after the firebrand Republican accused Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas) of wearing “fake eyelashes.”

The comment — which was made during a markup to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress — prompted nearly an hour of disorder in the committee, with lawmakers screaming over one another and hurling insults left and right, leaving Chairman James Comer (R-Ky.) struggling to maintain order

The madness culminated Thursday night with a vote on whether or not to allow Greene to continue speaking during the hearing, which the panel ultimately granted in a 22-20 vote. Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) — who has butted heads with Greene in the past — crossed party lines to vote against allowing the Georgia lawmaker to proceed during the hearing. Boebert was sitting two seats away from Greene during the vote.

“Inhope you brought your popcorn,” Greene exclaimed at one point during the hearing.
Republicans moved to hold Garland in contempt after the attorney general refused to hand over the audio recording of President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, despite already having the transcript of the conversation. Biden claimed executive privilege over the audio recordings.

The vote passed 24-20 along party lines just after 11 p.m. eastern time Thursday night, hours after the House Judiciary Committee did the same. The full House will now vote on holding the attorney general in contempt.

Mayhem broke out during Thursday night’s Oversight hearing when Greene asked if any Democrats on the panel were employing the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Trump’s hush money trial in Manhattan. Trump and Republicans have targeted the judge’s daughter over her employment at a progressive digital agency. The Oversight Committee delayed Thursday’s contempt markup from an 11 a.m. start time to 8 p.m. so a number of Republicans who sit on the panel were able to attend Trump’s trial in Manhattan.
“Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland,” Crockett, a first-term lawmaker, asked, later adding, “do you know what we’re here for?”

“I don’t think you know what you’re here for,” Greene responded. “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”

The comment prompted outrage from Democrats, with Rep. Jamie Raskin (Md.), the top Democrat on the committee, saying “that’s beneath even you, Ms. Greene,” and Ocasio-Cortez yelling “that’s disgusting.”

Ocasio-Cortez moved to take down Greene’s words, calling them “absolutely unacceptable.”

“How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person,” she added.
“Are your feelings hurt?” Greene responded.
“Oh girl, oh baby girl, don’t even play,” Ocasio-Cortez shot back, leading Greene to say “oh really, baby girl?”

The back-and-forth prompted a short pause in the proceedings as Comer determined how to proceed. When they resumed, Greene said she would agree to strike her words, but Ocasio-Cortez demanded that she apologize to Crockett, an exchange that led to Greene lobbing an insult at the New York Democrat.

“I believe she needs to apologize,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“I’m not apologizing,” Greene responded, to which Ocasio-Cortez replied “well then you’re not striking your words.”

Why don’t you debate me?” Greene asked.
“I think it’s pretty self-evident,” Ocasio-Cortez shot back.
“Yeah, you don’t have enough intelligence,” Greene responded, prompting uproar among Democrats.

Ocasio-Cortez quickly moved to strike Greene’s “intelligence” comment, which the Georgia Republican agreed to. But she again said she would not apologize, sparking more chaos.
“You will never get an apology out of me,” Greene reiterated shortly after. “I don’t owe you one.”
More disorder ensued minutes later when Crockett asked if a hypothetical comment — which appeared to be a veiled jab at Greene — would break Congressional protocol.

I’m just curious, just to better understand your ruling,” Crockett said, referring to a ruling Comer had made about Greene’s comments. “If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach blonde bad built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?”
At that point, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) jumped into the chaos, asking to strike Crockett’s words.
“I’m trying to get clarification,” Crockett said, prompting Luna to repeatedly yell “calm down.”