Out Rep. Becca Balint scrapped attempt to censure Marjorie Taylor Greene for relentless “hatred”

House Democrats have decided to scrap today’s planned vote on a resolution to censure Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-GA), put forth by out Rep. Becca Balint (D-VT).

The resolution states that Greene has “repeatedly fanned the flames of racism, antisemitism, LGBTQ hate speech, Islamophobia, anti-Asian hate, xenophobia, and other forms of hatred” and then spends the next seven pages detailing the lawmaker’s various indiscretions.

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Jake Tapper rips into hypocrite Marjorie Taylor Greene for pretending to care about antisemitism

“This s**t is not a game.”

Balint put forth the privileged resolution in response to a censure resolution from Greene, that targeted Palestinian-American Rep. Rashida Tlaib (D-MI) for her statements on the Israel-Hamas war. Greene’s resolution has been criticized as hypocritical, Islamaphobic, and riddled with lies and exaggerations. Yesterday, it failed as 23 Republicans joined Democrats in rejecting the measure.

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The failure of Greene’s censure attempt is what led Balint to halt the vote on hers, explaining in a statement that “when 23 Republicans said ‘no’ to Rep. Greene’s bigotry, I saw this situation a little differently. I want to thank them for doing the right thing. And I’m going to hold back on the vote for now.”

But Balint – who was the first out LGBTQ+ person elected to Congress from Vermont – emphasized this doesn’t mean she is finished coming for Greene.

“The fact remains that my Republican colleagues have allowed Rep. Greene to spew hatred and bigotry for far too long. Vermonters sent me to Congress to uphold the values of fairness and truth, and to protect our democracy. That means speaking out against a bully. I was fully prepared to move my resolution forward, and I plan to call this up for a vote at any time should we see continued vile rhetoric from Rep. Greene and her colleagues.”

Balint originally introduced the censure resolution in July, at which point Greene responded that she didn’t care.

“I don’t know who this freshman Democrat is,” Greene said. “They must have terrible fundraising numbers because they’re pulling some ridiculous stunt. Looks like four pages of slander, because I looked at the first few lines and I was like, ‘That’s not even true.’ I could care less.”

As the Associated Press noted, censure resolutions are becoming more common as partisanship becomes increasingly hostile. The publication pointed out that punishments like impeachment and censures were once “triggered only for the most egregious wrongdoing” but now “are quickly becoming routine.”

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