华盛顿——国会领导人总是面对他们队伍中的反叛者。但是销售代表。马特·盖兹马乔里·泰勒·格林(Marjorie Taylor Greene)正在向众议院共和党高层展示如何应对特朗普时代的新型社交媒体精明煽动者的考验。
第三任佛罗里达人盖兹和佐治亚大学一年级学生格林最近比大多数国会年轻议员吸引了更多的公众注意力。大部分都不乐观。
加州众议院少数党领袖凯文·麦卡锡面临的问题是，这两个极右的挑衅者是否会损害共和党明年夺取众议院控制权的目标选举南政党领导人必须决定对他们做些什么，以及任何行动将对他们的支持者产生什么影响，他们来自共和党坚定的保守基础。
“这些人在自己的泡沫中运作，”弗吉尼亚州前众议员汤姆·戴维斯说，他领导了众议院共和党的竞选活动。“他们知道如何获得媒体的关注，他们不担心自己过于离谱。”
“他们有绝对安全的座位，”戴维斯说。
然而，司法部正在调查盖兹是否违反了性交易法，是否与一名17岁的女孩发生了性关系，麦卡锡建议，如果盖兹被起诉，他将采取行动。
一份与格林有关的备忘录描述了一个拟议中的美国第一核心小组，该小组欢呼“盎格鲁-撒克逊政治传统”，并警告移民对美国“独特文化”的威胁，促使麦卡锡谴责“本土主义狗哨子”。
熟悉调查的人士描述说，盖兹否认了对他的指控。他没有被指控任何罪行，并表示他“绝对不会辞职”。
格林称这个会议备忘录是一个员工级别的提议，她没有从一个她不认识的外部团体那里读到过。她说，“美国第一”拥抱“所有种族、信仰和肤色的人”，并补充说，“我永远不会退缩。”
与大多数议员不同，两人都有权力来源，这使得他们很难被领导人遏制。他们的模式包括筹集大量资金、聚集社交媒体追随者、经常出现在电视上、代表非常保守的地区以及与前总统结盟唐纳德·特朗普他仍然被共和党人崇拜。
他们与特朗普的联系“给了煽动者很大的心理力量，让他们知道他们处于相当安全的境地，”弗吉尼亚州共和党前众议员戴夫·布拉特(Dave Brat)说，他是一名强硬的保守派，曾与党内领导人作战。
共和党众议员托马斯·马西(Thomas Massie)说:“在过去，如果你想让自己的形象像马特·盖兹(Matt Gaetz)或马乔里·泰勒·格林(Marjorie Taylor Greene)一样高，你就会竞选总统。”另一个与领导层发生冲突的保守派。
根据监控在线政治活动的自由派团体Media Matters的数据，从2019年1月到上周，盖兹在三大有线电视网上的209次工作日露面(几乎都是在保守的福克斯新闻上)仅被国会的另外五名成员超过。他的国会和个人推特账户都拥有至少100万粉丝。
盖兹告诉2019年HBO纪录片《沼泽》的制片人:“这个镇上真正有权势的人是那些可以上电视并进行辩论的人。”“这是领导力永远无法从你身上夺走的力量。”
格林自1月份以来在国会拥有40万推特粉丝，但从未在三大有线电视网上露面。她出现在特朗普友好的“一个美国”新闻网和新闻麦克斯电视上。
她还报告称，今年前三个月筹集了320万美元。根据联邦选举委员会的数据，这是典型的众议院共和党在整个2020年选举中花费的150万美元的两倍多。
盖兹报告称，截至3月份，该公司共筹集了180万美元。
前众议院议长约翰·博纳(John Boehner)的前高级助手迈克尔·斯蒂尔(Michael Steel)和其他主要共和党人表示，名人在国会中推动筹款能力和知名度，这独立于传统的权力结构。
对盖兹的指控是对佛罗里达州共和党政治人物更广泛调查的一部分，无论麦卡锡做什么，这些指控都足以威胁到他的政治生存。
众议院共和党内部规则规定，被指控犯有严重重罪的议员应该从委员会辞职，而众议院规则规定，如果被定罪，他们不应该在众议院投票。处于这种情况的成员经常辞职或不寻求连任。
格林的情况更加模糊。在最近的一个案例中，在爱荷华州众议员史蒂夫·金(Steve King)多年来发表种族攻击性言论后，共和党领导人在2019年反对他，当时他质疑为什么“白人至上主义者”等术语是攻击性的。他没有辞职，而是输掉了2020年的共和党初选。
由于共和党的反对，民主党占多数的众议院在2月份剥夺了格林的委员会任务，因为她在网上重复使用暴力言论和阴谋论。麦卡锡谴责了她的声明，但没有惩罚她。
加利福尼亚州众议院议长南希·佩洛西(Nancy Pelosi)有自己的叛乱分子，由纽约州议员亚历山大·奥卡西奥-科尔特斯(Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez)和进步“班”中的其他人担任头目。但是由于该党的微弱多数，所有民主党人都面临着巨大的压力，要团结在乔·拜登总统的议程后面，这给了佩洛西更多的筹码。
麦卡锡只需要赢得几个席位就能赢得众议院的控制权，他更希望没有干扰。共和党希望专注于它认为的目标丰富的环境，如西南边境的移民问题，民主党提出的提高高收入者和企业税收的建议，以及学校系统的持续大规模关闭。
“这是一个问题，”莎拉·张伯伦说，她是共和党主要街道伙伴关系的负责人，这是一个由几十名共和党中间派组成的联盟。“如果马特·盖兹成为共和党的代言人，他可能会被温和的共和党地区的民主党广告用来对抗我们，”她说。
通常，国会领导人可以通过威胁削减政党控制的竞选捐款来向立法者施压。盖兹和格林已经筹集了足够的资金来抵抗这种压力。
这两个人可以用他们的钱购买以热点问题为特色的在线广告，吸引更多的支持者和共和党基础的捐款，并通过向他们的竞选活动捐款来争取同事的支持。格林已经报告说，他花了80多万美元建立了一个在线筹款活动，盖兹花了50多万美元。
根据竞选财务报告，格林在民主党解除她的委员会任务前不久，向众议院共和党竞选部门捐赠了17.5万美元。
盖兹去年向几十名众议院共和党人捐款。
Gaetz, Greene flaunt new paths to power, testing GOP leaders
WASHINGTON -- Congressional leaders have always faced rebels in their ranks. But Reps.Matt Gaetzand Marjorie Taylor Greene are presenting top House Republicans with a test of how to handle a new breed of Trump-era, social media-savvy firebrands.
Gaetz, a third-term Floridian, and Greene, a Georgia freshman, have attracted more public attention lately than most junior members of Congress. Much of it hasn't been positive.
That's confronting House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., with questions about whether the two hard-right provocateurs might hurt the GOP’s goal of capturing House control in next year’selections. Party leaders must decide what, if anything, to do about them, and what impact any action would have on their supporters, who come from the GOP's staunchly conservative base.
“These are folks who operate in their own bubbles,” said former Rep. Tom Davis, R-Va., who headed the House GOP’s campaign operation. “They know how to get press, they don’t worry about being too outrageous."
“They have absolutely safe seats,” Davis said.
However, the Justice Department is investigating whether Gaetz violated sex trafficking laws and had sex with a 17-year-old girl, and McCarthy has suggested he'll take action if Gaetz is indicted.
And a memo linked to Greene described a proposed America First Caucus hailing “Anglo-Saxon political traditions” and warning of immigration's threat to the U.S.'s “unique culture,” prompting McCarthy to denounce “nativist dog whistles.”
Gaetz has denied the accusations against him, which were described by people familiar with the investigation. He hasn't been charged with any crimes and says he is “absolutely not resigning."
Greene called the caucus memo a staff-level proposal that she had not read from an outside group she didn't identify. She said “America First” embraces people “of every race, creed, and color," and added, “I will never back down."
Unlike most lawmakers, the two have sources of power that make them tough for leaders to curb. Their formulas include raising lots of money, amassing social media followers, appearing often on television, representing strongly conservative districts and being allied with former PresidentDonald Trump, who’s still idolized by legions of Republicans.
Their association with Trump “gives a lot of psychological power to the firebrands to know that they're on pretty safe ground," said former Rep. Dave Brat, R-Va., a hardline conservative who battled party leaders.
“In the past, if you wanted your profile as elevated as Matt Gaetz’s or Marjorie Taylor Greene’s, you’d run for president,” said Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., another conservative who’s clashed with leadership.
From January 2019 through last week, Gaetz's 209 weekday appearances on the three major cable TV networks — nearly all on conservative Fox News — were exceeded by only five other members of Congress, according to Media Matters, a liberal group that monitors online political activity. His congressional and personal Twitter accounts both boast at least 1 million followers.
“The really powerful people in this town are the ones that can go on television and make an argument," Gaetz told the producers of “The Swamp,” a 2019 HBO documentary. “And that’s power that leadership can never take away from you.”
Greene, in Congress since January, has 400,000 Twitter followers but has made no daytime appearances on the three top cable networks. She has appeared on the Trump-friendly One America News Network and Newsmax TV.
She also reported raising $3.2 million during this year's first three months. That's more than double the $1.5 million the typical House GOP incumbent spent on the entire 2020 election, according to Federal Election Commission figures.
Gaetz reported raising $1.8 million through March.
“Celebrity fuels money-raising ability and popularity, and that is independent from the traditional power structure" in Congress, said Michael Steel, former top aide to former Speaker John Boehner, R-Ohio, and other leading Republicans.
The allegations against Gaetz, part of a broader probe of Florida Republican political figures, are serious enough to potentially threaten his political survival, whatever McCarthy does.
Internal House GOP rules say a lawmaker indicted for a serious felony should resign from committees, while House rules say they shouldn't vote on the chamber's floor if convicted. Members in such situations often resign or don't seek reelection.
Greene's situation is murkier. In a recent case, after years of racially offensive statements by Iowa Rep. Steve King, GOP leaders turned against him in 2019 when he questioned why terms like “white supremacist” were offensive. He didn't resign but lost his 2020 GOP primary.
Over GOP objections, the Democratic-majority House stripped Greene of her committee assignments in February for her online recycling of violent statements and conspiracy theories. McCarthy denounced her statements but didn't punish her.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., has her own insurgents, headlined by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., and others in the progressive “squad.” But with the party's paper-thin majority, all Democrats are under tremendous pressure to unify behind President Joe Biden's agenda, giving Pelosi more leverage.
McCarthy needs to gain just a few seats to win House control and would prefer no distractions. The GOP wants to focus on what it considers a target-rich environment of issues like migrants at the Southwest border, Democratic proposals to boost taxes on high earners and corporations and the continued pandemic closure of school systems.
“It's a problem," said Sarah Chamberlain, who heads the Republican Main Street Partnership, an alliance of dozens of GOP centrists. “If Matt Gaetz becomes the face of the Republican Party, he can be used against us" by Democratic ads in moderate GOP districts, she said.
Usually, congressional leaders can pressure lawmakers by threatening to cut campaign contributions the parties control. Gaetz and Greene have already raised enough money to resist such pressure.
The two can use their money to buy online ads featuring hot-button issues that lure more supporters and contributions from the GOP base, and to court backing from colleagues by donating to their campaigns. Greene has already reported spending over $800,000 to build an online fundraising operation, Gaetz over $500,000.
Greene donated a healthy $175,000 to the House GOP campaign arm shortly before Democrats stripped her of her committee assignments, according to campaign finance reports.
Gaetz last year donated to dozens of House Republicans.
