Lawmakers react to chaotic outbursts during House hearing

WASHINGTON (NEXSTAR) — Members of Congress hurled insults at each other during a House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday night.

The lawmakers were debating whether to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress for refusing to turn over audio recordings of President Joe Biden’s interview with the special counsel investigating his handling of classified documents.

“I think your fake eyelashes are messing up your reading,” U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, (R-Ga.), said to U.S. Rep. Jasmine Crockett, (D-Texas).

“Hold on, hold on,” interrupted U.S. Rep. James Comer, (R-Ky.), who chairs the committee.

“That’s beneath even you, Ms. Greene,” said U.S. Rep. Jamie Raskin, (D-Md.), the top Democrat on the committee.

U.S. Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, (D-N.Y.), demanded the committee strike Greene’s words from the Congressional record.

“How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person!,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“Are your feelings hurt?,” Greene asked Ocasio-Cortez.

“Move her words down,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

“Aww,” Greene said.

“Oh girl, baby girl,” Ocasio-Cortez said.

The debacle consumed the committee for more than 30 minutes before members ruled to keep Greene’s comments on the record. Crockett followed up with a dig disguised as a question.

“If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach blond bad built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?,” Crockett asked.

“A what now?,” Comer responded.

The committee ultimately got its work done, voting down party lines to hold Garland in contempt of Congress. However, the testy back and forth, not the vote, was the talk of Capitol Hill Friday.

“We don’t engage in personal insults,” Raskin said.

Raskin summed up the behavior as disgraceful, and U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, (R-Colo.), agreed with him.

“My apology was sincere because I felt shamed that that was happening while we are taking care of serious business,” Boebert said.

House Speaker Mike Johnson, (R-La.), gave a warning to all lawmakers.

“We’ve got to treat one another with dignity and respect,” Johnson said.

Johnson would not say when he plans to bring the Garland contempt measure to the House floor.

Copyright 2024 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

For the latest news, weather, sports, and streaming video, head to DC News Now | Washington, DC.