Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) is on the warpath against her own party’s handling of the government shutdown. And her fellow Republicans are increasingly calling her out.
The firebrand three-term lawmaker, long an ally of President Donald Trump, has distanced herself from Republican leadership in recent months. And as the shutdown drags on, Greene’s loud — and usually lonely — dissent risks fracturing Republicans’ efforts to present a united front and pressure Democrats into caving on funding the government.
“Don’t spend much time worrying about [what] Marjorie is saying,” Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) told CNBC’s “Squawk Box” on Wednesday.
While a few other Republicans have criticized the party’s approach to the shutdown, Greene has been the loudest and most prominent detractor. She’s focused on expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies — which Democrats have made their central demand — and accused her party of ignoring the issue.
“Not a single Republican in leadership talked to us about this or has given us a plan to help Americans deal with their health insurance premiums DOUBLING!!!” she wrote in a social media post in early October.
Republicans have continually indicated they’ll negotiate on health care premiums only after the shutdown. House Speaker Mike Johnson has tried to brush off Greene’s attacks and defuse the tension, telling reporters that GOP-led conversations on health care are happening in other channels.
“Bless her heart, that’s an absurd statement,” he told CNN when asked last week to comment on Greene’s assertion that the Republicans were “sitting on the sidelines” on health care.
Greene has only ramped up her critiques of the speaker and his team, with the shutdown now well into its fourth week, writing on X on Tuesday that Johnson “said he’s got ideas and pages of policy ideas and committees of jurisdiction are working on it, but he refused to give one policy proposal to our GOP conference on our own conference call.”
Sen. Bernie Moreno (R-Ohio) on CNN late Tuesday called on Greene to put her own health care plan forward — and to stop attacking her party.
“I like her, she came out to Ohio a few times,” he said. “She’s certainly able to write a bill herself. Like if this is something she’s passionate about, put pen to paper, write a bill. Present an option. Don’t just criticize what other people are doing.”
Greene’s disagreement with Republicans stretches beyond the shutdown. She broke party ranks by calling Israel’s actions in Gaza a genocidein July and was one of just a handful of Republicans to sign a discharge petition from Reps. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) that would force a floor vote on the Epstein files.
Greene’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But the party, Cruz said, is moving on.
“Suddenly, Marjorie is for massive government spending and taxes and she’s for open borders and amnesty. Ok fine,” he said Wednesday. “That is not where the American people are. Where the American people are, is real simple. We’re on day 29 of the stupidest shutdown.”
