“Marjorie Taylor Greene continues to make offensive comparisons to Nazis because she knows there will be no real consequences from Kevin McCarthy or Tom Emmer,” said Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, a New York congressman and chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, in a statement. “McCarthy and Emmer have been nothing but complicit and cowardly in the face of Greene’s repeated racism and antisemitism.”

Controversies in the conference

Greene is hardly the only source of heartburn inside the House GOP. On Thursday, freshman Rep. Lauren Boebert of Colorado also blasted out a tweet referring to “Needle Nazis” when talking about officials carrying out President Joe Biden’s latest Covid-19 vaccination push.

Then there’s Rep. Matt Gaetz, who is under federal investigation for potential sex trafficking violations involving a minor. But McCarthy is letting the probe play out before deciding whether to reprimand the Florida Republican, while noting he’d automatically lose his committee assignments if indicted. In the meantime, though, Gaetz has gone on a public speaking tour with Greene and even floated running for president in 2024 if Trump sits out.

Meanwhile, a growing chorus of House Republicans have sought to downplay the deadly Capitol riots, including Rep. Andrew Clyde of Georgia, who said the day looked like a “normal tourist visit.” Greene, Rep. Louie Gohmert of Texas and other GOP lawmakers have started to promote a wild conspiracy theory that the FBI incited the insurrection. And Rep. Paul Gosar of Arizona has been leading the charge to turn Ashli Babbitt, a rioter who was shot by a police officer after storming the Capitol, into a martyr.

Gosar came under fire earlier this year for speaking at the America First Political Action Conference, which was organized by Nick Fuentes, a known white nationalist. The Arizona Republican also recently appeared on a fundraiser flier alongside Fuentes that was promoted on social media. Gosar denied that there was any such event on his schedule, but he also made clear that he is unapologetic about promoting the “America First” agenda — no matter who it attracts.

“Not sure why anyone is freaking out. I’ll say this: there are millions of Gen Z, Y and X conservatives. They believe in America First,” he tweeted. “They will not agree 100% on every issue. No group does. We will not let the left dictate our strategy, alliances and efforts. Ignore the left.”

None of those GOP members, including Gosar, have faced any widespread blowback or serious repercussions from their party, though McCarthy has previously said through a spokesman that “there is absolutely no place for racism in our discourse or society.”

Greene’s office, meanwhile, sent along a video featuring clips of journalists, pundits, strategists and comedians criticizing Trump and in some cases comparing him to a dictator.

McCarthy’s low-key leadership approach

When asked if he plans to reprimand the members who whitewashed the insurrection or voted against legislation to award a Congressional Gold Medal to the police officers who defended the Capitol on January 6, McCarthy suggested that he deals with those matters privately.

“What I talk to my members is what I talk to my members personally about,” McCarthy said at a recent news conference. “But if you want to talk to somebody about how they vote, talk to them.”

Indeed, McCarthy prefers to operate behind the scenes. He has hauled Greene, Gaetz and Gosar into his office to have private conversations with them after controversies have surfaced. McCarthy has also implemented a mentorship program where more senior lawmakers are assigned to help guide the freshmen, including both Boebert and Greene, as well as Rep. Madison Cawthorn of North Carolina, another Republican firebrand who has stepped in controversy.

There was at least one recent instance where McCarthy’s leadership style was successful in reining in the right flank: Gosar and Greene’s plans for an “America First” caucus were quickly scrapped after McCarthy and his top deputies condemned a draft proposal of a potential policy platform for the group, which called for respecting “Anglo-Saxon political traditions.”

McCarthy’s allies argue that his carrot-over-stick approach has also proven to be successful with Rep. Jim Jordan, a Republican from Ohio. The conservative hard-liner was once a pain in McCarthy’s side and even challenged him for minority leader in 2018. But after McCarthy awarded Jordan high-profile assignments in the conference, Jordan is now a team player and has steered clear of some of the recent antics deployed by his fellow members of the House Freedom Caucus.

Defenders of McCarthy also point out that his ability to deal with unwieldy members is limited, especially when it comes to Greene, who already had her committee assignments taken away by Democrats earlier this year.

“What leverage does he have? What tools does he have?” said one GOP lawmaker. “He talks to them a lot. He does what he can. He sits them down and makes clear what his expectations are. But there’s only so much he can do.”

Yet McCarthy has shown that he is, in fact, willing to punish his own — but only in certain cases. In 2019, he removed former Rep. Steve King of Iowa from his committees, but only after King spent years making racist and controversial remarks and had been cut loose by the House GOP’s campaign arm.

More recently, Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming was booted from GOP leadership, with McCarthy’s blessing, for repeatedly criticizing Trump. And last week, McCarthy said during a private lunch that he would strip any Republican of their committee assignments if they accepted an offer from Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve on the January 6 select committee, though he later told reporters he wasn’t making any threats.

Still, Democrats have been quick to highlight the apparent difference in standards for Cheney and Greene.

“This Fourth of July recess, Kevin McCarthy has made it clear once again what kind of leader he is,” Pelosi’s press office said in a statement this week. “Not only will he kowtow to the radical elements of his conference and look the other way when they hold fundraisers with white supremacists or invite insurrectionists to events, but he will also actively silence and threaten anyone who stands up for the truth and our democracy.”

The most high-profile shareholder victory has come from Engine No. 1, an activist hedge fund that took on ExxonMobil (XOM) after accruing just 0.02% of the oil giant’s shares. Critical of Exxon’s record on climate change, Engine No. 1 successfully installed three new directors on the company’s board — a huge coup that could force Exxon to make major changes to its strategy.

What changed: Engine No. 1 emerged triumphant by bringing powerful institutional investors like BlackRock (BLK) onside. Welsh said that represented a seismic shift and shows how times have changed.

“You cannot get those levels of support without buy-in from the major mutual funds,” she said.

Climate has been a key theme, with eight proposals earning more than 50% support. Political spending, diversity and Covid-19 have also featured prominently. At Netflix (NFLX), more than 80% of voters backed a proposal for more election spending oversight and disclosure. Resolutions for racial justice audits at Amazon (AMZN) and JPMorgan Chase (JPM) ultimately did not pass, but received more support than expected.

On the radar: Shareholders are showing a growing willingness to flex their muscle just as Trump-era rules making it harder to file resolutions are due to take effect, though the changes are being challenged in court by a coalition including As You Sow.

Still, having won big in 2021, many activists are gearing up for future fights. Engine No. 1, now looking beyond ExxonMobil, just announced the launch of a low-fee exchange-traded fund that will trade under the ticker “VOTE.”

The Engine No. 1 Transform 500 ETF, which launched with $100 million in assets, will invest in the 500 largest US stocks so it can pressure reluctant firms to change their ESG strategies. The hedge fund hopes to recruit legions of mainstream investors who back its approach.

“Rather than just invest in companies that are already incorporating ESG initiatives into their businesses, this product allows investors to take their seat at the table and be part of the change at companies,” Michael O’Leary, managing director at Engine No. 1, told me via email.

Gas prices will keep rising if OPEC doesn’t act soon

American drivers need OPEC and Russia to come to the rescue.

Gasoline prices are averaging $3.12 a gallon in the United States, according to AAA. The seven-year high comes just as millions of people hit the road for July 4th weekend, my CNN Business colleague Matt Egan reports.

Demand for energy is so strong as the world economy reopens that prices will likely go even higher — unless Saudi Arabia-led OPEC and its allies start pumping much more oil soon.

US oil prices finished June at $73.47 a barrel, leaving them up 34% in 2021. That marks the best first half of a year since 2009, according to Refinitiv Oil Research.

Watch this space: Producers known as OPEC+ have been adding supply, but only gradually. They could announce a change of plans after a meeting on Thursday.

It’s possible the group will stay the course due to concerns about Covid-19 variants like the Delta strain. Oil producers remain cautious and want to avoid getting caught flat-footed if demand stalls.

But many analysts believe producers could take a more aggressive tack, giving drivers some much-needed relief.

“We believe they will answer the call to put more barrels on the market,” Helima Croft, global head of commodity strategy at RBC Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients.

Robinhood’s record fine raises questions

Popular trading app Robinhood just earned a notorious distinction: It was ordered to pay the biggest fine ever issued by a top Wall Street regulator.

The details: The Financial Industrial Regulatory Authority is demanding that Robinhood pay about $70 million, accusing it of “systemic supervisory failures” and of hurting investors by giving them “false or misleading information.”

FINRA’s sanctions on Robinhood focus on large-scale system outages that hit the platform in March 2020, as well as the options trading procedures at the heart of a lawsuit filed by the family of a 20-year-old Robinhood trader who died by suicide last year.

“The fine imposed in this matter, the highest ever levied by FINRA, reflects the scope and seriousness of Robinhood’s violations,” Jessica Hopper, head of FINRA’s department of enforcement, said in a statement.

Robinhood neither admitted to nor denied the charges. In a statement, the company noted that it has heavily invested in improving the platform’s stability, educational offerings, customer support and legal teams.

Step back: FINRA’s sanctions remove one of the major clouds hovering over Robinhood ahead of a blockbuster initial public offering later this summer. But the startup still faces plenty of scrutiny, raising questions about whether investors will back a firm garnering so much regulatory attention.

See here: Gary Gensler, chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission, has repeatedly expressed concerns about the “inherent” conflicts of interest in the payment-for-order flow model that’s central to Robinhood’s commission-free trading business.

Walgreens (WBA) reports results before US markets open.

Also today: Initial jobless claims for last week arrive at 8:30 a.m. ET. The ISM Manufacturing Index for June follows at 10 a.m. ET.

Coming tomorrow: The latest US jobs report is expected to show that 700,000 jobs were added last month.

Attorneys general and secretaries of state are on the ballot in more than two dozen states next year.

State election chiefs from both parties have faced verbal abuse and threats, following the 2020 election — as former President Donald Trump spread falsehoods of a “rigged” election. Although there’s no evidence of widespread wrongdoing that could have changed the election’s results, Republicans lawmakers in key swing states have raced ahead with laws they say will shore up election integrity.

Democrats and voting rights groups say the measures are aimed at suppressing votes in 2022. Additionally, they argue that bills seeking to curb the power of secretaries of state and other election officials could lead to partisan meddling when it’s time to count votes and certify results.

The States United Democracy Center, a bipartisan group founded to advance fair elections, has tallied at least 216 bills in 41 states that would criminalize the actions of election officials, give legislators more power over the running of elections or otherwise interfere. Two dozen have become law to date.

Last week, GOP lawmakers who control Arizona’s Legislature voted to strip Democratic Secretary of State Katie Hobbs of her authority to oversee election-related lawsuits and gave that power to the state’s Republican attorney general.

The ban would expire on January 2, 2023, when the offices of secretary of state and attorney general could switch party control after the 2022 election. Hobbs is running for governor; Attorney General Mark Brnovich is running for the US Senate.

Hobbs has sharply criticized a GOP-ordered and problem-ridden “audit” of the 2.1 million votes cast in Maricopa County, Arizona.

In Michigan, meanwhile, a Republican lawmaker has introduced a bill that calls for an audit of 2020 results in the state — despite the secretary of state concluding that no fraud or foul play occurred in last year’s election. Last week, the Republican-led state Senate Oversight Committee affirmed there was “no evidence of widespread or systematic fraud” in that election.

In a statement about the endorsement, Benson pledged to “continue fighting so every American knows the truth: The 2020 election was the safest and most secure in our state and nation’s history.”