Several House Democrats have called out House Speaker Kevin McCarthy for the committee assignments given to the more right-wing members of the Republican conference.
Rep. Ritchie Torres (D-NY) called the committee assignments “tragic for our democracy” while explaining why the assignments for several Republican lawmakers make little sense.
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“George Santos, who stole from a small businessman, will be on [the] Small Business Committee. Marjorie Taylor Greene, who incited Jan. 6, will be on [the] Homeland Security Committee. Scott Perry, who’s being investigated by the FBI, might investigate the investigators investigating him. All of these committee assignments would be comical were the consequences not so tragic for our democracy,” a spokesperson for Torres told the Washington Examiner.
Other members, such as Rep. Jimmy Gomez (D-CA), have said Democrats will need to “balance out the crazy” of Republican lawmakers, naming Greene on the House Oversight Committee.
Kevin McCarthy cut a deal with extremists and this is what we get:
Election-denying, #QAnon-believing, insurrectionist-defending Members like @RepMTG on the important House Oversight Committee.
Good thing we got Dems like @RepRaskin and I to balance out the crazy. https://t.co/YCFOChCkC0
— Rep. Jimmy Gomez (@RepJimmyGomez) January 18, 2023
Greene, who was stripped of her committee assignments in the last Congress, was placed on the House Oversight and Homeland Security committees by McCarthy. Several other right-wing members of the conference scored seats on high-profile committees, including the 20 GOP lawmakers who held out on voting for McCarthy for speaker.
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Democrats have also criticized McCarthy for not allowing Reps. Adam Schiff (D-CA) and Eric Swalwell (D-CA) on the House Intelligence Committee, with the House speaker citing abuse of power and untrustworthiness as reason not to seat them on the committee.
