Actions come with consequences. Turn in homework late, get a penalty. Don’t show up to work, get fired. Steal something, get arrested. Now the Republican Party is facing its own consequences. Not only are they dealing with an increasingly polarized government, Republicans are now also coping with the rift between the Trump loyalists and the defectors. In the case of Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, her incessant promotion of harmful behavior and rhetoric warrants expulsion from the House of Representatives. 

Among other actions, Greene posed with a rifle in front of photos of Democratic Congresswomen, which led to new death threats. She keeps perpetuating the myth of Trump winning the election and having it stolen from him, insinuated that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should be executed for treason, and pushed conspiracy theories on California wildfires being caused by Jewish space lasers. In the past, she was vocal in her support of QAnon, a conspiracy theory that claims the existence of a deep state controls a child sex trafficking ring. 

If Greene is punished, there are a few different ways that this could be accomplished. In the House of Representatives, there are three types of punishments: expulsion from the House, censure (formal disapproval of a Representative’s actions), and reprimands, which are less harsh than censure. 

Expulsion has only occurred five times in US history. The first three Representatives to be expelled were men who fought for the Confederacy instead of supporting the Union- which is an act of treason. Marjorie Taylor Greene helped incite the insurrection on the Capitol, and to this day, still believes that the election was stolen. During the insurrection, a man carried a Confederate flag in the Capitol, something that wasn’t even done during the Civil War. People were there with the goal of physically confronting politicians, and even called for Vice President Pence to be hung. Are the actions of the first three Representatives and Greene not equally severe? These people all supported the opposite side of justice, and most importantly, of truth. 

Additionally, media exposure to Greene’s theories normalizes these claims, creating a dangerous culture where the truth is questioned constantly, driving skepticism to the point of no return. By expelling Greene from the House, she would have less of a platform to push new conspiracy theories, and expulsion now would make sure that Americans are protected from harmful ideology.

Democrats punished Greene by removing her from her assigned committees, the House Education and Labor Committee and Budget Committee. There’s a backstory to this as well. She confronted a Parkland shooting survivor and accused him of taking bribes to make everything up as a scheme to advocate for more gun regulation. It was a slap in the face to many school shooting survivors- someone who had doubted school shootings was placed on the House committee for education? Her recent actions and condoning of violence towards colleagues caused eleven Republicans to vote with Democrats, showing that at least a few Republicans thought that Democrats’ efforts to punish Greene wasn’t a partisan push for power. 

The bipartisan vote showed that Green being removed from her committees was an example of a punishment used correctly. Instead of trying to censure or expel representatives left and right, punishment should only be used when representatives deserve it. John McCain, Cindy McCain, and Liz Cheney are all Republicans who have been censured by their parties, and it’s well within the right of Republicans to do it. But in this case, Republicans should employ a harsher consequence for Greene. Some of these representatives, Greene included, are shamelessly condoning violence, and that’s where the line is between censuring for political gain and for punishing others. 

It’s true that Republicans don’t want to create rifts within its own party that could be exploited by Democrats. But at the end of the day, it’s not a good look on the party itself if you’re part of the party that was okay with keeping around representatives that both push conspiracy theories and condone violence against other representatives. The Republican party should get rid of Marjorie Taylor Greene before she does more damage, like bringing in a wave of more representatives that have her same beliefs in conspiracy theories and violence against Democrats. 

In what was supposed to be her apology speech to the House, Greene didn’t apologize for supporting violence towards Democrats. She was reportedly applauded during a closed session of the Republican party where she apologized to her caucus for putting them in a difficult situation due to her past actions. But we can’t forget about what Greene has done. Greene broke the rules, and it’s time for her to face the consequences.