U.S. Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois was one of 11 Republicans to cross party lines Thursday and support Democrats in stripping GOP Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her House committee assignments in a rebuke to her controversial past statements supporting false conspiracies and violence against politicians.
The vote by Kinzinger, of Channahon, had been expected, and represented yet another step the five-term lawmaker has taken to break from the GOP establishment since former President Donald Trump’s Nov. 3 defeat by Democrat Joe Biden.
Kinzinger was one of 10 House Republicans to vote to impeach Trump last month over the Jan. 6 insurrection at the U.S. Capitol. Kinzinger recently formed a “country first” political action committee and movement to separate himself from Republicans still backing Trump.
His actions have created friction in the state GOP.
The vote to remove Greene, a freshman Republican from Georgia, from her positions on two committees, Education and Labor, and Budget, was 230-199. Except for Kinzinger, Illinois’ congressional delegation of 13 Democrats and five Republicans voted along party lines.
The other Republicans who voted with Democrats were Reps. Carlos Giminez, Mario Diaz Balart and Maria Elvira Salazar of Florida; Chris Jacobs, John Katko and Nicole Malliotakis of New York; Young Kim of California; Christopher Smith of New Jersey; Fred Upton of Michigan; and Brian Fitzpatrick of Pennsylvania.
Like Kinzinger, Katko and Upton also voted for Trump’s impeachment last month.
Kinzinger had telegraphed his vote to remove Greene’s committee assignments in recent days, citing her history of encouraging the false QAnon conspiracy theory, her belief that mass shooting events were staged by gun control advocates, and her use of social media to support violence against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other Democrats.
Appearing on CNN hours prior to the vote, Kinzinger noted that during the House Republican Conference held Tuesday night, Greene received a partial standing ovation, which he called an “embarrassment” and “disappointing by factor of a thousand.”
Kinzinger also was critical of House Republican leader Kevin McCarthy for not taking action to remove Greene from her committee posts.
“He needs to stand for truth and he needs to recognize this party, the future, is not going down to Mar-a-Lago and being with Donald Trump,” he said.
McCarthy offered to switch Greene’s committee assignments, but his offer was rejected by House Democrats who proceeded with the full floor vote. The GOP leader called the move a partisan “power grab” but Democrats said the action was needed, particularly in light of the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol
Kinzinger said he reserved the right to vote against the resolution if Greene appeared publicly and apologized. But during a morning appearance on the House floor, Greene, wearing a “free speech” face mask, said she regretted “some of the words” but made no specific apologies.
“I never once said any of the things that I am being accused of today during my campaign. I never said any of these things since I have been elected for Congress. These were words of the past and these things do not represent me,” she said.
Then she likened the media to QAnon.
“Will we allow the media that is just as guilty as QAnon of presenting truth and lies to divide us?” she asked. Rep. Jim McGovern, D-Mass., who chairs the House Rules Committee, said for her “to equate the media to QAnon is beyond the pale.”
Kinzinger’s actions have resulted in criticism from Republican groups in Illinois and the state GOP, which meets Saturday to pick a new chairman, also may consider a possible rebuke to the congressman.
On Tuesday, the LaSalle County Republican Central Committee voted to censure Kinzinger, an action with no penalties except to serve as a statement of rebuke.
Larry Smith, chairman of the group, which is in the sprawling 16th Congressional District, said while it has “always supported Republicans at every level, Congressman Kinzinger’s actions and statements against former President Trump have opened a Pandora’s box of criticism.”
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