‘Furious’ Marjorie Taylor Greene blasts Freedom Caucus in GOP deadlock on speaker vote

ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) - U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene blasted her fellow Freedom Caucus members as Congressional Republicans engaged in a civil war on Capitol Hill on Tuesday.

House minority leader Kevin McCarthy was defeated on the first ballot as Congress gaveled into its 118th session. The California Republican’s defeat, according to the AP, sent the new Congress into a tangle as conservative colleagues opposed his leadership.

McCarthy was opposed by several members of the House GOP’s so-called Freedom Caucus, and became the first House speaker nominee in 100 years to fail to win the gavel from his fellow party members on the initial vote.

On the House’s first ballot, U.S. Rep. Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY) received 212 votes to McCarthy’s 203. Five other congressional representatives also received votes; no candidate received the required majority to become speaker. A total of 218 was needed for a candidate to be elected speaker.

Later on Tuesday, McCarthy suffered another defeat on a second ballot.

Greene, who was elected to another term this past November in Georgia’s 14th district, blasted some members of her party for their opposition to McCarthy.

“I haven’t asked for one thing for myself and I’m the only Republican that has zero committees,” Greene told reporters in a Capitol Hill hallway. “I find out it’s my Freedom Caucus colleagues and my supposed friends that went and did that and they asked nothing for me. I am furious.”

A core group of conservatives led by the Freedom Caucus and aligned with Donald Trump’s MAGA agenda were furious, calling the private meeting a “beat down” by McCarthy allies and remaining steadfast in their opposition to the GOP leader, according to the AP.

U.S. Rep. Andrew Clyde, who represents northeast Georgia’s 9th district, was one of the Republicans who voted against McCarthy on the first ballot.

This story is developing.

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