Fresh off the news that she has been banished by her fellow Freedom Caucus members and removed from the group, U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene said she is not going to change her ways.
And in a subtle dig at her colleagues, the Rome Republican said she has more important things to worry about.
“The GOP has less than two years to show America what a strong, unified Republican-led Congress will do when President Trump wins the White House in 2024,” she said in a statement to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This is my focus, nothing else.”
Politico first reported that shortly before members of the House left for a two-week recess in late June a vote was taken during a meeting of the House Freedom Caucus on Greene’s status with the group. On Thursday, Politico confirmed that she had been removed from the rolls, marking the first time a member has ever been tossed from the far-right caucus.
“A vote was taken to remove Marjorie Taylor Greene from the House Freedom Caucus for some of the things she’s done,” Freedom Caucus board member Andy Harris, a Maryland Republican, told Politico. Later, when asked if Greene had been kicked out, he said: “As far as I know, that is the way it is.”
Although Greene is well known for past incendiary remarks about other groups, a recent dust-up with U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert that included Greene calling Boebert an obscenity was apparently the cause of the far-right caucus’ ire, along with Greene’s close alliance with House Speaker Kevin McCarthy.
Now that she’s out, Greene’s new status raises the question of whether her support for future measures will carry the same weight for McCarthy and his whip team, since a vote from the congresswoman will no longer imply the support of other Freedom Caucus members. It’s also not clear whether the episode will hurt her with her constituents at home in her Rome-based district, who have stayed loyal to her so far.
If Greene was worried about the fallout late Thursday night, she wasn’t showing it. Instead, she posted a video of herself on a putt-putt course sinking an 8-footer with the caption, “Avoiding distractions is the key to staying focused.”
Avoiding distractions is the key to staying focused. 🇺🇸 pic.twitter.com/aqPaCK5eCH
— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) July 6, 2023
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Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
LISTEN UP. We’ve been hitting the road lately in search of below-the-radar Georgia political stories that could predict where the state is heading, too. In our Friday edition of the Politically Georgia podcast, we talk about where we’ve been so far and what’s next.
We also dip into the continuing chatter about a Kemp 2024 run, and why Atlanta’s Peachtree Road Race attracts politicos like moths to a six-mile flame, and name our who’s up and who’s down for the week.
Listen and subscribe at Apple, Spotify, or Google Podcasts.
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BIDEN TO GREENE COUNTRY. President Joe Biden, who has been making trips around the country to highlight his economic policies, said he will soon visit controversial Republican U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district.
In comments delivered Thursday afternoon at a manufacturing plant in South Carolina, Biden said during his first two years in office his administration has launched programs that helped businesses grow and create jobs despite opposition from most Republicans.
“Since I took office, we’ve seen over 60 domestic manufacturing announcements all across the solar supply chain,” the president said. “One of the biggest is in Dalton, Georgia. You may find it hard to believe, but that’s in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s district.
“I’ll be there for the groundbreaking,” he added with a chuckle.
Biden may have been referring to QCells, the large solar manufacturer that already operates a plant in Dalton. QCells announced in January that it is planning to expand its Dalton operations and open another plant near Cartersville, which is in U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk’s district.
The White House declined to provide more details about when and where Biden will be visiting.
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Credit: AJC file photos
Credit: AJC file photos
CREDIT DEFAULT. Have you noticed Washington Democrats and state Republicans all taking credit for the policies they say are bringing new solar and EV manufacturing projects to Georgia?
We’ve got the latest on what they’re saying and how a good-news story turned into a political clash that will last until 2026 and beyond.
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Credit: Stephen B. Morton for the AJC
Credit: Stephen B. Morton for the AJC
GROWING PAINS. The economic upsides from all of the new manufacturing projects around the state may be too much of a good thing for the communities struggling to accommodate the growth they’re bringing.
The Savannah Morning News reports that Bryan County commissioners have issued a rezoning moratorium on commercial, residential and industrial applications in some parts of the county through the end of the year. Bryan County is the home of the massive Hyundai EV metaplant now under construction west of Savannah.
The moratorium came at the request of the county’s community development team, which said it’s still trying to get its arms around the water, sewer, traffic and infrastructure needs ahead.
“We are struggling to keep up with the pace of development,” Audra Miller, the community development director, said. “We need to develop in a thoughtful and pragmatic manner.”
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Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
ELECTIONS HEARING. U.S. House Republicans will hold a field hearing in Atlanta next week on the topic of confidence in the nation’s election systems.
The meeting, which will be hosted by the House Administration Committee on Monday, will include testimony from Hans von Spakovsky, who leads the conservative Heritage Foundation’s Election Law Reform Initiative, and Kathleen Ruth, who once served as vice chairman of the Fulton County Elections Board. Cathy Woolard, the chair of the Fulton Elections Board, will also speak.
Georgia U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, R-Cassville, is a member of the committee and will be attending the hearing on the campus of Georgia State University.
Loudermilk was one of six Georgia Republicans who voted to invalidate the 2020 election results of other states on Jan. 6, 2021. He was also among the members of Congress who spoke out against the violence at the Capitol that day.
The field hearing will be available via livestream.
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Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
Credit: Kenny Holston/The New York Times
TODAY IN WASHINGTON:
- President Joe Biden will deliver remarks from the White House on his efforts to lower health care costs.
- The U.S. House and Senate are wrapping up their two-week recess for the Fourth of July holiday.
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Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
Credit: Bob Andres/AJC
STUDENT AID. Georgia Congresswoman Nikema Williams is pushing for federal help for college students dealing with food insecurity.
Williams, who also chairs the state Democratic Party, is co-sponsoring a bill that would let more students qualify for SNAP benefits (formerly called food stamps). The AJC’s Martha Dalton reports that the bill would also let students exclude financial aid used for living expenses from their personal income and would let them count time spent attending college as a work requirement, making the benefits easier to access.
Williams’ office says the bill doesn’t have GOP support yet, meaning it’s unlikely to get very far in the Republican-led House of Representatives.
“College should be a time of promise and opportunity,” Williams said in a news release about her legislation. “But for too many students, basic needs like food are inaccessible and going hungry makes it impossible to learn.”
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
77 AND COUNTING. Former President Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn Carter, are celebrating their 77th wedding anniversary today.
The couple was married in 1946 on July 7 (or 7/7) and we hope all those 7s bring the couple nothing but good luck.
The AJC’s Ernie Suggs has much more on this long-lasting love story and the low key celebration planned for the nonagenarian couple.
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Credit: Courtesy photo
Credit: Courtesy photo
DOG OF THE DAY. We’d all be loving the dog days of summer if we were this dog, JoJo Davis, seen here with the wind in her hair during a July 4th adventure on Lake Jackson.
The four-year-old goldendoodle calls AJC subscribers Walt and Michelle Davis her people. When JoJo isn’t navigating holiday boat traffic and supervising tubers, she also lives with Parker and Bailey Davis in Atlanta. But why leave the lake, JoJo? It looks pretty great from here.
Send us your dogs of any political persuasion and cats on a cat-by-cat basis to patricia.murphy@ajc.com, or DM us on Twitter @MurphyAJC.
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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.
