Chaplain firing and rehiring leads to House shouting match between MacArthur and Crowley

Herb Jackson
NorthJersey
Rep. Tom MacArthur, R-Ocean County, arrives for a news conference of the House Bipartisan Heroin Task Force on June 27, 2017.

WASHINGTON — Raw feelings over the case of the House chaplain who was forced to resign last month and then rehired last week led to a shouting match on the House floor Tuesday night between Republican Rep. Tom MacArthur and Democratic Caucus Chairman Joe Crowley.

MacArthur said afterward that he went up to Crowley to urge him not to pursue an inquiry into the circumstances behind Chaplain Patrick Conroy's forced resignation last month.

Crowley's spokesman, Lauren French, said Crowley challenged MacArthur to say why Republicans did not want to have the facts come out

Conroy last week released a letter rescinding a resignation letter he said House Speaker Paul Ryan's chief of staff had told him to offer, and effectively dared Ryan to fire him. In the letter, Conroy said that when he asked the chief of staff, Jonathan Burks, for a reason, Burks "mentioned dismissively something like ‘maybe it’s time that we had a chaplain that wasn’t a Catholic.’”

Burks issued a statement disputing Conroy's account and saying he was "disappointed by the misunderstanding."

Ryan accepted Conroy back the day the letter was released, and Conroy opened Monday's session with a prayer hoping members would be "encouraged and empowered by their constituents to be their best selves."

In this June 13, 2016, file photo Rev. Patrick Conroy, chaplain of the House of Representatives, delivers an interfaith message on the steps of the Capitol in Washington.

MacArthur said he wanted Crowley to let the issue rest. 

"I pray with Father Pat every Thursday, he’s a good man, he’s a good pastor," said MacArthur, R-Toms River. "As far as I’m concerned, Joe Crowley is trying to politicize this to score some cheap political points ... so I just went over and told him to knock it off. ...

"He got worked up and told me to leave his, get that, his side of the floor. I said, 'Joe, you don’t own this floor, the people own this floor and I’ll come he any time I want to.' And that got him wrapped around the axle some more," MacArthur said.

French said she stood near Crowley as the situation unfolded. She said Crowley reacted when MacArthur said he was offended that Democrats were pursuing an inquiry, saying Crowley was offended Republicans had fired Conroy.

"Joe’s a loud guy to begin with," French said. "I'll not deny there was a little bit of a heated exchange, but that’s all it was. ... What was most distressing was why Mr. MacArthur was so uncomfortable with anyone asking for a straightforward review of why the speaker fired the Catholic chaplain." 

Rep. Bill Pascrell, D-Paterson, said he was not present for the altercation but spoke with Crowley afterward.

“Joe said, 'I’m offended, I can’t get a vote on my resolution and what I’m hearing, some anti-Catholic stuff, I’m offended,'” Pascrell said. “He said to MacArthur, ‘If you’re offended, tell those people on your side you’re offended.’”

MacArthur said the incident calls into question the leadership of Crowley, who is a potential contender for speaker in the next Congress if Democrats take the majority.

“This is a guy who wants to be speaker?" MacArthur said. "He is so thin-skinned he explodes on the floor because somebody dares to question why he’s trying to score cheap political points on this issue? C’mon.”