Verdict.
The vote was supposed to happen at 4 p.m. ET but it’s coming up on 6:00 p.m. as I write this and still nothing. There’s no suspense about the outcome; the Democratic majority will vote to boot Greene off of the education and budget committees. The suspense has to do with how many Republicans will cross the aisle and join them. My guess yesterday before the big GOP caucus meeting about Greene and Liz Cheney was that a few dozen might. Then I read this and recalibrated: Many Republicans now plan to give Greene a chance. She received a standing ovation at the conference meeting after she disavowed many of her previous beliefs. She told a story about a dark point in her life when she apparently turned to QAnon, according to a person in the room. She said that was a mistake, walked back suggestions that 9/11 and school shootings were a hoax and apologized for how her past statements were affecting them all. After she spoke, even Rep. TOM REED (R-N.Y.), a leader of moderate Republicans, stood up to thank her for sharing her story and indicated he’d give her a chance. We’re told other Republicans who may have been inclined to vote with Democrats to remove Greene in a floor vote set for today are now reconsidering. Between that and Greene’s willingness to go to the House floor this morning and… not apologize, exactly, but at least renounce some of her former beliefs, I revised my guesstimate downwards to eight or so. That’s because I assume most of the caucus is thinking of Greene and Cheney as a package deal. Cheney was spared from the wrath of MAGA in the name of unity and now Greene should be spared from the wrath of Democrats for the same reason. But then I saw this within the past hour and now think even eight Republicans is waaaaay overestimating the final number: My statement on the full House vote to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committees. pic.twitter.com/fWK4Qiuqi9 Jaime Herrera Beutler (@HerreraBeutler) February 4, 2021 Jaime Herrera Beutler is one of the 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump. If she’s a no on stripping Greene’s assignments because she thinks it’s a bad precedent for the majority to boot a minority member off of committees, there must be precious few members of the caucus who are willing to cross Greene. Even Liz Cheney, I’d bet, will end up voting no in order to earn back a little goodwill with her populist detractors in the caucus. It won’t be a pure party-line vote, though. At least one Republican seems likely to vote against Greene: At least one Republican, Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, said he plans to vote with Democrats Thursday unless Greene comes out and publicly apologizes and denounces her past actions. “She stood up and gave a bit of contriteness but then pivoted into ‘they’re coming after you next,’” Kinzinger said on CNN Thursday, describing Greene’s closed-door speech the night before.
