WASHINGTON (NewsNation) — Partisan tensions reached a boiling point during a House Oversight Committee hearing Thursday night as personal attacks between Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., and Rep. Jasmine Crockett, D-Texas, derailed.
Greene accused Crockett of wearing “fake eyelashes” during a markup to hold Attorney General Merrick Garland in contempt of Congress.
The comment prompted nearly an hour of disorder in the committee, with lawmakers screaming over one another and hurling insults and personal attacks, leaving Chairman James Comer, R-Ky., struggling to restore order.
Lawmakers derail hearing with insults
Mayhem erupted when Greene asked if any Democrats on the panel were employing the daughter of Judge Juan Merchan, who is overseeing former President Trump’s hush money trial.
The Oversight Committee delayed Thursday’s contempt markup from an 11 a.m. start time to 8 p.m., so several Republicans who sit on the panel could attend Trump’s trial in Manhattan.
“Please tell me what that has to do with Merrick Garland,” Crockett asked, later adding, “Do you know what we’re here for?”
“I don’t think you know what you’re here for,” Greene responded. “I think your fake eyelashes are messing up what you’re reading.”
The comment prompted outrage from Democrats, with Maryland Rep. Jamie Raskin, the top Democrat on the committee, saying “That’s beneath even you, Ms. Greene,” and Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., yelling “That’s disgusting.”
Ocasio-Cortez moved to take down Greene’s words, calling them “absolutely unacceptable.”
“How dare you attack the physical appearance of another person,” she added.
Hearing was ‘an embarrassment:’ Rep. Boebert
The chaos peaked with a vote on whether to allow Green to continue speaking during the hearing, which the panel granted in a 22-20 vote.
After the committee ruled that Greene’s attacks were allowed to stay on the record, Crockett followed up with Comer and asked if a hypothetical comment — which appeared to be a veiled jab at Greene — would break Congressional protocol.
“I’m just curious, just to better understand your ruling,” Crockett said, referring to a ruling Comer had made about Greene’s comments. “If someone on this committee then starts talking about somebody’s bleach blonde bad built butch body, that would not be engaging in personalities, correct?”
At that point, Rep. Anna Paulina Luna, R-Fla., jumped into the chaos, asking to strike Crockett’s words.
“I’m trying to get clarification,” Crockett said, prompting Luna to repeatedly yell “calm down.”
Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., apologized to America for the committee members’ behavior.
“I don’t think this is the best use of our time when we are squabbling. It’s one thing to have fun and laugh as members of Congress and try to find humor or some sort of light-heartedness in what we are doing,” Boebert said. “But when things get as heated as they have, it’s unfortunately an embarrassment on our body as a whole. So, I just want to personally apologize to the American people for that.”
It’s not clear what, if any, repercussions there could be for the outbursts during Thursday’s hearing.
GOP advances Garland contempt charges
The madness culminated Thursday night with Republicans voting to hold Garland in contempt for refusing to hand over the audio recording of President Biden’s interview with special counsel Robert Hur, despite already having the transcript of the conversation. Biden claimed executive privilege over the audio recordings.
The vote passed 24-20 along party lines just after 11 p.m. ET Thursday, hours after the House Judiciary Committee did the same. The full House will now vote on holding the attorney general in contempt.
The Hill contributed to this report.