MTG ripped for spending $100K on Kevin McCarthy's used Chapstick while "country teeters on default"

The House GOP caucus "auctioned off" lip balm used by the House speaker amid debt ceiling negotiations

By Gabriella Ferrigine

Staff Writer

Published May 24, 2023 12:23PM (EDT)

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., conducts a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on her plans to file articles of impeachment against President Biden on Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., conducts a news conference in the Capitol Visitor Center on her plans to file articles of impeachment against President Biden on Thursday, May 18, 2023. (Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images)

House Republicans took a brief hiatus from a closed-door Tuesday meeting about spending cuts and raising the debt ceiling to auction off Speaker Kevin McCarthy's, R-Calif., used cherry Chapstick.

The auction, which was meant to bolster the House GOP's campaign funds, came to a close when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., offered up $100,000 dollars once McCarthy stated he would attend a dinner with the highest bidder and whichever donors and supporters they brought in tow. 

"I'm honored to be able to donate $100,000 to the [National Republican Congressional Committee] to help Republicans increase our majority in 2024 and defeat the Democrats. My constituents will be honored to host a visit with Speaker Kevin McCarthy, who we all think is doing a great job," the GOP congresswoman said in a statement.

Politico reported that Rep. Aaron Bean, R-Fla., led the auction, while the bidding pool included Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash.; Stephanie Bice, R-Okla.; and Jason Smith, R-Mo.

Politico reporter Olivia Beavers shared an image of Bean and Greene with said chapstick, which was branded for Bean's congressional campaign.

The auction comes at a fraught moment in time, given that the U.S. Treasury has indicated that the hard deadline to raise the debt ceiling is June 1. 

"They [are] doing this insane chapstick shit while the country teeters on default. Wild," tweeted Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn.

"Spending $100,000 on chapstick while working overtime to gut the programs that working families rely on. GOP priorities in a nutshell," Rep. Nydia Velazquez, D-N.Y., wrote. 

Rep. Sean Casten, D-Ill., also blasted the House GOP, saying, in "today's Democratic caucus meeting, we discussed how devastating a default would be for American families and what we can do to get the GOP to take this seriously. In the House GOP meeting, they auctioned off Kevin McCarthy's used chapstick."

embed: https://twitter.com/RepCasten/status/1661020965244145664


Want a daily wrap-up of all the news and commentary Salon has to offer? Subscribe to our morning newsletter, Crash Course.


"MAGA Republicans are paying $100,000 for Speaker McCarthy's chapstick while holding Social Security checks and retirement benefits hostage unless we cut food benefits for seniors, Medicaid funding, and childcare/preschool for low-income Americans," tweeted Rep. Jennifer McClellan, D-Va.

Greene caught some heat from the right as well for using her donor money for the purchase.

"Is this your personal money or PAC/campaign money @MTG?" questioned Grace Chong, the CFO of MAGA ally Steve Bannon's War Room podcast. "You came on WarRoom asking MAGA for more money, which a lot are struggling financially."


By Gabriella Ferrigine

Gabriella Ferrigine is a staff writer at Salon. Originally from the Jersey Shore, she moved to New York City in 2016 to attend Columbia University, where she received her B.A. in English and M.A. in American Studies. Formerly a staff writer at NowThis News, she has an M.A. in Magazine Journalism from NYU and was previously a news fellow at Salon.

MORE FROM Gabriella Ferrigine


Related Topics ------------------------------------------

Aaron Bean Aggregate Kevin Mccarthy Marjorie Taylor Greene Politics