Rep. Thomas Massie has reintroduced his doomed proposal to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education and welcomed the support of Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene — whom the House of Representatives just removed from congressional committees because of her extreme social media posts — for that idea.
This isn’t the first time Massie has recommended getting rid of the federal agency that oversees education across the nation. The Kentucky Republican introduced legislation to eliminate the department in 2017, when the GOP controlled the House, and in 2019, when Democrats ruled that chamber.
But neither of those bills went anywhere, nor did an essentially identical proposal Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul made in December 2020 when Republicans still held a majority in the Senate. (Paul tweeted his support for Massie’s latest proposal Monday, calling it a “good step toward fixing education!”)
Massie, whose district covers Northern Kentucky, tweeted Monday that he had reintroduced his proposal to terminate the Department of Education, with the latest suggested end date for that agency listed as Dec. 31, 2022.
Massie said the bill would “improve education” in America and mentioned it has several other Republican sponsors.
See also:Nation’s eyes on McConnell during Trump’s impeachment trial
Greene, who was sworn in last month as a first-term representative from Georgia, reacted to Massie’s announcement on Twitter: “Looking forward to cosponsoring this legislation, @RepThomasMassie! Education decisions should be made by parents and educators at the local level, not by unelected bureaucrats in Washington, DC.”
Last week, the House voted 230-199 to strip Greene of her assignments to the chamber’s Education and Labor Committee and its Budget Committee because of her behavior on social media before she got elected to Congress.
Greene was widely criticized for making posts that promoted false conspiracy theories about events like the 9/11 terrorist attacks and for appearing to endorse violence against notable Democrats in the past, as well as for video footage of her taunting a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida.
Despite the controversy over Greene’s past behavior, Massie responded to her warmly on Twitter when she said she’d support his bill: “Glad to have your support @RepMTG (Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene) for this important legislation!”
The House’s decision to remove her from the congressional committees largely was made along party lines. However, 11 Republican representatives (none of whom represented Kentucky) voted alongside Democrats to impose that penalty.
Audit:Kentucky unemployment office violated federal rules, ignored 400K emails
The reckoning over Greene’s use of social media and prior statements happened as the Senate prepared for the second impeachment trial of President Donald Trump, who is charged with inciting an insurrection at the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6.
That trial begins in earnest this week, and it’s poised to feature debates about the impact politicians’ rhetoric can have on the people listening to them, as well as on politicians’ First Amendment rights.
In a speech last week before the House voted to drop her from the chamber’s committees, Greene renounced certain statements she’d previously made on social media that have since been scrutinized, but she did not apologize.
“These were words of the past and these things do not represent me, they do not represent my district, and they do not represent my values,” she said Thursday.
Greene and some other Republicans have criticized the pushback against her as a negative example of “cancel culture.”
However, certain conservatives, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, have sharply criticized Greene.
On Kentucky Politics:A weekly newsletter covering all things Kentucky politics
“Loony lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our…
Read More: Massie welcomes Greene’s support on effort to ax education department