Christian Smith
WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Partisan tensions reached a boiling point during a House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday night when personal attacks between Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, derailed.
Greene accused Crockett of using “false eyelashes” during a marking to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland accountable for contempt of Congress.
The comment sparked nearly an hour of disorder in the committee, with lawmakers shouting at each other and hurling insults and personal attacks, leaving Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., scrambling to restore order.
Lawmakers disrupt hearing with insults
Chaos erupted when Greene asked if any Democrats on the panel were employing the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Trump’s trial.
The Oversight Committee postponed Thursday’s contempt schedule from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. so that several Republicans serving on the panel could attend Trump’s trial in Manhattan.
“Please tell me what this has to do with Merrick Garland,” Crockett asked, later adding, “Do you know why we are here?”
“I don’t think you know why you’re here,” Greene responded. “I think your false eyelashes are getting in the way of what you’re reading.”
The comment sparked outrage from Democrats, with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the committee, saying “This is beneath even you, Ms. Greene,” and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., shouting “This is disgusting”.
Ocasio-Cortez moved to take back Greene’s words, calling them “absolutely unacceptable.”
“How dare you attack another person’s physical appearance,” she added.
Hearing was ‘a disgrace’: Deputy Boebert
The chaos culminated in a vote on whether Green could continue speaking during the hearing, which the panel granted in a vote of 22-20.
After the committee ruled that Greene’s attacks could remain on the record, Crockett followed up with Comer and asked whether 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 decision,” Crockett said, referring to a decision Comer had made regarding Greene’s comments. “If someone on this committee starts talking about someone’s blond, poorly built body, that wouldn’t be engaging in personalities, right?”
At that point, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Florida, entered the chaos, asking to attack Crockett’s words.
“I’m trying to get clarification,” Crockett said, causing Luna to repeatedly yell “calm down.”
Representative Lauren Boebert, Republican of Colorado, apologized to America for the behavior of committee members.
“I don’t think this is the best use of our time when we’re fighting. It’s one thing to have fun and laugh as members of Congress and try to find humor or some kind of joy in what we’re doing,” Boebert said. “But when things get so hot, unfortunately it’s a shame for our bodies as a whole. So I just want to personally apologize to the American people for that.”
It is unclear what the repercussions might be, if any, for the outbursts during Thursday’s hearing.
Republican Party advances contempt charges against Garland
The madness culminated Thursday night with Republicans voting to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to turn over the audio recording of President Biden interview with special prosecutor Robert Hur, despite already having a transcript of the conversation. Biden claimed executive privilege over the audio recordings.
The vote passed 24-20 along party lines just after 11pm ET on Thursday, hours after the House Judiciary Committee did the same. The plenary of the Chamber will now vote to convict the attorney general.
The Hill contributed to this report.
