WASHINGTON — Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene isn’t backing down from her very public break with fellow Republicans on health care that shook up Washington.
In an extensive interview Tuesday, Greene, R-Ga., accused her party of not having a plan on health care and made the case that it should be working to fix the problem now.
“When it comes to the point where families are spending anywhere from $1,500 to $2,000 a month and looking at hikes coming on their insurance premiums, I think that’s unforgivable,” she said.
GOP leaders in Congress are desperately working to keep their ranks unified amid Republican efforts to reopen the federal government without making any concessions to Democrats.
House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., forcefully pushed back against Greene's argument, saying she isn’t informed on the topic.
“Congresswoman Greene does not serve on the committees of jurisdiction that deal with that, those specialized issues, and she’s probably not read in on some of that,” Johnson told reporters on Capitol Hill.
Instead of backing down in face of criticism from party leadership, Greene decided to go all in.
“The reality is they never talk about it. And that committee working on, say, health insurance and the industry, that doesn’t happen in a [secure facility]. It’s not a major secret,” Greene said, adding that Johnson hasn’t reached out to discuss her concerns.
When reached for comment, Johnson's office referred back to the speaker's remarks to reporters Tuesday.
“What I am upset over is my party has no solution," Green said. "It’s not something that we talk about frequently, but it is a reality for Americans, and it’s something that I don’t think we can ignore. I want, I really want to fix it.”
Greene disagrees with the Democrats' tactic of voting against a short-term funding bill to reopen the government at current spending levels without any policy changes, but she said that shouldn't prevent her party from negotiating with them to find a solution on health care premiums.
“The health insurance issue, it’s happening right now. These premiums are going to go up,” she said.
She also made it clear that Congress should go back to passing 12 annual appropriations bills that focus on specific parts of the government and allow for policy and spending changes, as opposed to broadly extending the status quo on government funding.
“I am personally against the government shutdown. I really want to be doing appropriations," she said.
To pass appropriations bills, the House would need to be in session. Johnson, however, has insisted that he won’t bring the House back until the shutdown ends.
Greene believes that's a mistake.
“We should be doing appropriations. The House should be in session and continuing that work,” she said.
Greene also said that the Senate shoulders some of the blame and that Republicans, with their 53-47 majority, could end the shutdown immediately by disposing of the legislative filibuster, which requires 60 votes to pass most pieces of legislation.
“They can open the government any time they want. They can use the nuclear option in the Senate. They can reopen the government. This is a bunch of drama and political theater, so I’m willing to call that out, too,” she said.
