I wonder why?
(NOT REALLY….)
Yea ….
It’s members helped others use violence (some almost against its own members) to try to thwart a Presidential election certification….
Some are still supporting those who where guilty of these efforts….
Many members within the House of Representatives have told CNN in recent days that they find themselves in a toxic work environment, wrought with bitter exchanges, threats and fears about what the erosion of decorum in the chamber will mean for a body that has still not recovered 10 months after the Capitol Hill riot.
In interviews with more than a dozen members, CNN heard from Democrats and some Republicans who say things are as bad as they can remember, with no sign things will get better soon, and the fears and concerns aren’t just coming from members, but their families as well.
Last week alone, Democrats and two Republicans voted to censure Rep. Paul Gosar, a Republican from Arizona, for posting an animé video depicting the killing of fellow member Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a Democrat from New York. Initially, Gosar took the video down, but he retweeted another tweet containing the video just an hour after he endured the highest form of rebuke a member can get in the House.
As he took his punishment in the well of the House, he was surrounded by a group of colleagues rushing to his defense. His leadership never came to the floor to admonish him, only attacking the process Democrats were using….
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It’s all part of the challenge members are facing now in the House, and some have opted to retire rather than endure more caustic behavior.
On the outskirts of the House chamber, metal detectors are still stationed at every door, a reminder of the fears that remain. And an effort to investigate the root cause of the attack on January 6 has been politicized and met with resistance by most Republicans. Some have even downplayed whether the events of that day were all that bad. It’s a constant reminder for some members about the state of their workplace.
“January 6th made things so much worse. I was on the floor that day. That was a forever life-changing moment on a personal level, but it was also a moment that changed Congress,” Rep. Cheri Bustos, a Democrat from Illinois, told CNN. “It started with the incessant lies that weren’t challenged and were amplified to January 6th to a member of Congress threatening lives of friends and colleagues.”…
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Ocasio-Cortez, who was the subject of Gosar’s animé video, told CNN last week that sometimes it is impossible to separate the political from the personal, even as she has tried to build relationships with some Republicans.
“It is not just because they dislike me as a person. In fact, I have had many a Republican come to me on the House floor and say ‘I tell folks back home that while I don’t agree with you, I think you are a quite kind person.’ I have had Republicans come up to me after the 6th, one of them even weeping and with guilt over what happened,” Ocasio-Cortez said. “So for some … publicly, this is a performance. But it is also personal because I cannot separate myself from my gender, I cannot separate myself of how I was born, so their hatred of non-White people, their hatred of women is a hatred of me.”