How the 'MAGA Squad' Is Building Power to Control the Next Congress - TIME
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Gaetz and Greene are the ringleaders of the GOP’s most hard-core, pro-Trump congressional faction. The MAGA Squad, as you might call them, is not a formal caucus, but its numbers are growing—despite the impending departure of one prominent member, Rep. Madison Cawthorn, who lost his North Carolina primary after scandals ranging from insider-trading allegations to lewd videos. The group includes freshmen members like Lauren Boebert, who accused a Muslim colleague of being a member of the “Jihad Squad,” as well as longer-serving representatives like Scott Perry of Pennsylvania, who pushed Trump’s Department of Justice to throw out electoral votes after the 2020 election, and Paul Gosar of Arizona, who has extensive ties to white nationalists and once posted an animated video showing him murdering Democrat Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez with a sword. There’s Representative Andy Biggs of Arizona, who allegedly helped plan the Jan. 6 rally that preceded the Capitol riot, and Mo Brooks of Alabama, who spoke at the rally. Several members have been subpoenaed by the Jan. 6 Committee, which is also investigating Representative Barry Loudermilk for leading what some have called a “reconnaissance” tour of the closed Capitol on Jan. 5, 2021. There have long been rabble-rousing right-wingers in Congress, but this group makes the Freedom Caucus seem tame.
To Republicans trying to convince voters to hand them power this November by seeming sensible, sober and interested in governing, they’re a constant headache and distraction. The Senate minority leader, Mitch McConnell, has described Greene’s “loony lies and conspiracy theories” as a “cancer for the Republican Party.” Not that the MAGA Squad care what the GOP Establishment thinks: Back before Twitter permanently banned her for spreading Covid misinformation, Greene shared a tweet calling Kevin McCarthy—the leader of her own party in the House—a “feckless c-nt.”
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The MAGA Squad has spent the past year building their power, and now they’re preparing to wield it. If McCarthy—or any other Republican—wants to be Speaker, he’s going to have to go through them. And he’s not getting their votes without meeting their demands, which could include things like prosecuting Fauci, ousting Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas, or even impeaching President Biden. The purpose, they say, isn’t amassing power for themselves. It’s shaping the agenda—and reshaping what the Republican Party stands for.
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Much of the House’s business is mundane—dozens of uncontroversial bills that can be passed on a voice vote if no member objects. Realizing this, Greene decided she would park herself on the House floor and object to every one, forcing each of the 435 members to show up and take a position, yea or nay... Greene would sit there, hour after hour, making her objections. In March 2021, she knocked 13 bills off the schedule in a single week. Some never came back. Others turned out not to have the votes to pass. A first-term backbencher in the House minority was single-handedly derailing multiple bills the Democratic majority wanted to approve.
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It’s not just the votes the Squad commands, but their ability to use social media, grassroots fundraising and clout with the Democratic base to pressure congressional leadership. Gaetz points to a July 2021 episode in which Democratic Representative Cori Bush of Missouri protested the expiration of the federal eviction moratorium: “Is not one of the greatest flexes of the 117th Congress Cori Bush sleeping on the steps of the Capitol and getting the Biden Administration, in a matter of, like, 48 hours, to totally reverse their position?” he says. “I obviously don’t share the policy goals of Congresswoman Bush, but there’s a freshman congresswoman who, by virtue of a pretty compelling direct action, got the Biden Administration to straight-up flip.”
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Gaetz says no one has asked for his vote for Speaker, but his ideal candidate would be Representative Jim Jordan, the veteran Ohio right-winger who passionately defended Trump during the first impeachment, and who Gaetz calls “the spiritual and intellectual leader of this conference.” “Where Jim goes, the conference goes,” Gaetz adds. “I don’t even remember who holds which austere titles that append to what corner offices and expanded staff budgets, but they are the followers. Jim Jordan, Marjorie Taylor Greene, myself—we are the leaders.”
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The MAGA Squad: They’re here. They’re weird. And pretty soon, they may be in control of the GOP Congress—if they aren’t already.
https://time.com/6186037/matt-gaetz-marjorie-taylor-greene-maga-house-republicans/
