WASHINGTON (AP) — Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Georgia and Paul Gosar of Arizona have been reinstated on committees by House Republicans after Democrats stripped them of the privilege in 2021, according to multiple GOP sources.
The Republican Steering Committee, which appoints committee gavels and seats, voted to put Greene and Gosar on the Oversight and Accountability Committee, which intends to launch numerous investigations into President Joe Biden and his administration.
Gosar was also appointed to the Natural Resources Committee. Democrats had kicked him off both panels during the previous Congress.
Greene was also elected to the Homeland Security Committee, where Republicans will focus on border security and investigate Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. A House Republican from Texas filed articles of impeachment against Mayorkas last week.
Greene’s appointments were confirmed by a spokesperson. She had come under fire from the right in recent months for defending Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., during his tumultuous, successful bid for House Speaker, but her gamble appears to have paid off.
Greene and Gosar are former President Donald Trump supporters and members of the House Freedom Caucus.
Greene was removed from the Budget Committee and the Education and Labor Committee in February 2021, after her social media posts revealed she was spreading dangerous and racist conspiracy theories.
After House Republican leaders decided not to act against Greene, the Democratic majority decided to pursue a proposal to remove her from her committees. Greene, a freshman lawmaker at the time, had come under fire for endorsing the QAnon conspiracy theory, embracing calls for violence against top Democrats, and suggesting that the school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, were staged.
Later that year, in November, the House voted to remove Gosar from his two committees, Oversight and Reform and Natural Resources, after he posted an animated video depicting him assassinating Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and attacking Biden. Gosar was censured as part of the measure, which is considered the harshest punishment for a House member after expulsion.
McCarthy, as minority leader, had delivered a veiled threat to remove Gosar before the vote, warning Democrats that if Republicans won control of the House in the 2022 election, Democrats’ committee seats might not be safe.
