Shouting match erupts on House floor over chaplain
Two lawmakers on Tuesday evening erupted into a shouting match on the House floor over Speaker Paul Ryan’s firing — and then reinstatement — of the House chaplain, reigniting a contentious religious fight the Wisconsin Republican hoped would fade.
No. 4 House Democrat Joe Crowley (D-N.Y.), who is Catholic, and Rep. Tom MacArthur (R-N.J.) got up in each other’s faces on the House floor and squabbled over the merits of a special investigation into the dismissal. The exchange was so heated that some lawmakers and aides watching worried they’d come to blows, though Crowley’s office said that was never going to happen.
The rare display of anger on the chamber floor, which is governed by strict rules of decorum, shows the forced resignation of Father Patrick Conroy remains a hot button issue. The standoff, in fact, came days after Ryan, under pressure internally and externally, backtracked on his decision to push out Conroy.
The confrontation started after Crowley offered a privilege resolution to establish a select committee to investigate Conroy’s forced resignation. Democrats have accused Republicans of discriminating against Catholics, though Ryan, himself a Catholic, has said his conference members had “pastoral needs” that weren’t being fulfilled.
https://www.politico.com/story/2018/05/08/house-chaplain-shouting-match-576131
= new reply since forum marked as read
We just don't need a chaplain.
And he's a favorite character. Along with his "mother", Rowena.
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