U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene attended her first committee hearing on Tuesday, and her comments are already igniting new controversies.
During the House Oversight Committee’s organizational meeting, Democrats complained about Republicans’ decision to disband a subcommittee that had jurisdiction over civil rights, civil liberties and criminal justice issues.
Texas U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, a Democrat, cited the police custody death of Tyre Nichols as the type of case that justified the subcommittee’s existence.
Greene, R-Rome, responded by calling Nichols’ death “tragic.” But she also compared the swift action to charge the Memphis officers accused in Nichols’ death to the lack of charges against the Capitol Police officer who shot and killed Ashli Babbitt as she attempted to breach the House chamber on Jan. 6, 2021.
“I believe that there are many people that came into the Capitol on Jan. 6 whose civil rights and liberties are being violated, heavily, and this committee will — I hope Mr. Chairman — look into those civil rights abuses,” Greene said.
Crockett responded on Twitter that Greene was making a “false equivalency.”
“Ashli Babbitt was climbing through a shattered window while insurrectionists were wrecking our Nation’s democracy — literally,” she wrote. “Knowingly committing a crime is one thing. Tyre Nichols on the other hand was simply & legally driving in Memphis!”
Crockett’s attempt to re-establish the civil rights subcommittee was voted down by the Republican-led panel.
This is the first time that Greene has been on a House committee since February of 2021, when all House Democrats and 11 Republicans voted to oust her from her committee assignments. The vote followed revelations about Greene’s previous comments supporting QAnon conspiracy theories, violence against House Democrats, and an earlier video showing Greene berating a school shooting survivor.
With Republicans now in the majority and Greene closely aligned with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, she has been appointed to the House Oversight Committee and the Homeland Security Committee. Look for her to make plenty of news from those powerful perches in the future — and clash with Democrats while she’s at it.
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
HOUSTON CALLING. One of the more interesting endorsements for Atlanta’s bid for the Democratic National Convention came from Houston Mayor Sylvester Turner.
As we noted yesterday, Houston was a finalist for the showcase event — until party officials notified the city’s leaders that they were officially out of the running. Chicago and New York remain in the mix along with Atlanta.
“He’s saying, ‘Go South,’” Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens said of Turner’s blessing.
“You have New York and you have Chicago, which have been blue for a long time. But we are showing when you make investments in Georgia, good things happen for the entire South.”
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Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
Credit: Hyosub Shin/AJC
LISTEN UP. We’re looking at Atlanta’s DNC bid, along with the city-state leader reset between Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens and Gov. Brian Kemp in today’s Politically Georgia podcast.
Listen and subscribe at Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, or Stitcher.
And if you’ve got a question about the podcast or anything #gapol, call us on the 24-hour Politically Georgia Podcast Hotline at (770) 810-5297. We’ll play your question and answer on Friday’s episode.
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RALSTON OUT. It was (special) Election Day in four legislative races around the state on Tuesday. The biggest news came in a battle between two Republicans in Blue Ridge. Banker Johnny Chastain defeated Sheree Ralston, the widow of the late Speaker David Ralston, in the race to succeed him, our colleague Mark Niesse reports.
In addition to the north Georgia contest, former state Rep. Sam Watson, a Republican from Moultrie, won the race in Senate District 11 to fill the seat previously held by Republican state Sen. Dean Burke.
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Credit: Ben Gray for the AJC
Republican Chas Cannon ran unopposed to fill Watson’s seat in House District 172. And Republicans Holt Persinger and Charlie Chase finished top two in the race to replace Danny Rampey, and will now go on to a runoff in House District 119.
Rampey won election in November, but never took office following his arrest on drug theft charges.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
TOO SOON? Speaking of elections, the next race for governor is almost four years out. But Georgians could get a glimpse of two potential Republican contenders in the state Senate on Wednesday.
That’s when Lt. Gov. Burt Jones is set to recognize former U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler in the chamber. Jones is already seen as a likely GOP contender to try to succeed Gov. Brian Kemp, who is term-limited. And Loeffler could also run, particularly if Kemp decides to challenge U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff.
The former U.S. senator will see plenty of familiar faces in the state Senate, since she helped many of the Republicans in the chamber get elected in 2022. Loeffler’s Citizens for a Greater Georgia PAC focused on electing Republicans to the state Senate — and grew her influence inside the state Capitol.
We’re a long way out. But the sidebar speculation has already begun.
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Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
Credit: Casey Sykes for the AJC
UNDER THE GOLD DOME (Legislative Day 11):
- 7:00 am: Committee meetings begin;
- 10:00 am: The House gavels in;
- 10:00 am: The Senate convenes.
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Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
SHIFTING GEARS: Gov. Brian Kemp and Kia executives gathered outside the state Capitol with a fleet of Kia cars on Tuesday to share how the South Korean automaker’s shift to electric vehicles will grow its investment in Georgia.
Kia’s plant in West Point has been the state’s sole vehicle manufacturing factory since it opened in 2009. It will soon have company as Rivian and Hyundai plan major auto plants, too.
Kemp credited Kia Tuesday for the state’s expanding auto manufacturing pipeline.
“It’s been transformational in West Georgia, but it also shows the world that we can be an automobile manufacturing hub,” he said.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Georgia’s future auto plants center around EV and lithium-ion technology, a shift many automakers see as the future.
Korean conglomerates SK Innovation and Hyundai Motor Group, the parent company of Kia, recently announced a project for Bartow County. One of the manufacturing plants it will serve is Kia’s facility in West Point.
Kia America spokesman James Bell told the AJC’s Zachary Hansen the EV movement will make current vehicles feel ancient.
“Any vehicle in the very near future that does not have some sort of electrons working for it to propel is going to feel very old very soon,” Bell said.
“It’ll be kind of like having a CD player in your car.”
(Ouch. One of your Insiders still has a CD player in his Honda Accord.)
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MORE TROUBLE. The former Herschel Walker aide who filed a lawsuit accusing conservative activist Matt Schlapp of sexual assault has now filed a separate legal complaint against a GOP operative.
The staffer, who went unnamed in the filing, accused Caroline Wren of defamation for, among other things, saying he was fired from multiple jobs for “being a habitual liar.”
Wren didn’t immediately comment on the federal complaint, which Politico first reported. You can find the link to the lawsuit here.
Schlapp is chairman of the American Conservative Union.
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TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- The U.S. House has scheduled votes on legislation requiring federal employees to return to the office and ending the COVID-19 public health emergency.
- The House Judiciary Committee will hold a hearing about immigration at the southern border.
- The Senate Agriculture Committee will hear testimony from Department of Agriculture leaders on the 2023 farm bill reauthorization.
- President Joe Biden will host House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for a meeting at the White House.
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Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
Credit: Nathan Posner for the AJC
MORE ASSIGNMENTS. U.S. House and Senate committees are starting to announce leadership and subcommittee roles:
- U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop will serve as ranking member on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.
- Rep. Hank Johnson has been appointed the ranking member of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, Intellectual Property and the Internet.
- Newly appointed to the Appropriations Committee, Rep. Andrew Clyde has been assigned to the following subcommittees: Commerce, Justice, Science, and Related Agencies Subcommittee; Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies Subcommittee; and the Legislative Branch Subcommittee.
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BEACH BOUND. Bert Brantley, a top deputy of Gov. Brian Kemp, said goodbye to his colleagues on his last day in the office Tuesday. He’s headed to Georgia’s coast to lead the Savannah Area Chamber of Commerce after holding what seems like every job at the Capitol.
Brantley has been a key aide to Sonny Perdue and Nathan Deal and was in leadership roles in the state economic development agency, drivers services department, road and tollway authority and GDOT.
His colleagues praised him as someone who understands the minutiae of arcane policy but also has a firm grasp on the big picture. As one Kemp friend said, “We’ll miss him more than he’ll ever know.”
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AS ALWAYS, Jolt readers are some of our favorite tipsters. Send your best scoop, gossip and insider info to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, tia.mitchell@ajc.com and greg.bluestein@ajc.com.
