Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene used an appearance on "The View" to take direct aim at her own party, saying it’s “an embarrassment” that the GOP-controlled House is not in session more than a month into the government shutdown.
“I want all federal employees to be paid. I want all the programs to be funded,” Greene, R-Ga., said Tuesday on the ABC show. “That is our job, all of us together, Republicans and Democrats, in the House and the Senate.”
The shutdown has now tied the longest in U.S. history, disrupting paychecks and curtailing or halting many services at federal agencies. Most government workers are furloughed or working without pay, and millions of households haven't received their November benefits under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, also known as food stamps.
Greene, who has not held back from faulting fellow Republicans during the standoff, said Tuesday she had grown “really tired of the pissing contest in Washington, D.C., between the men.”
Her frustration was especially pointed toward House Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La. Greene said that she “yelled at” him last week, and criticized her party for failing to plan for expiring Affordable Care Act subsidies, which, though she is not a fan, could leave millions of Americans facing higher insurance costs next year.
Extending the expiring Obamacare funding is Democrats’ top demand amid the shutdown. Republicans are divided on the issue, with some swing-district members in the House and certain senators calling for an extension of the funds.
“There’s a lot of ideas, there’s a lot of bills, but there’s no consensus,” Greene said, adding that she should not have to go searching for the GOP's health care plan.
“That’s a failure,” she said.
Those comments drew loud applause from the studio audience.
Greene told NBC News in a recent interview that increasing premiums will “crush people,” and that it is a top issue in her Georgia district.
She argued on Tuesday that the party’s internal roadblocks are stopping legislation from moving forward, including a bill that she said would end capital gains taxes on the sale of a primary residence.
“I can’t even get it to the floor for a vote without Mike Johnson approving it,” she said, and then invited Johnson to appear on "The View."
Greene acknowledged that she has been attacked online for agreeing to appear on "The View," but did not soften her response. She blamed what she called “weak Republican men” for the party’s inability to deliver on its promises.
“When I ran in 2020, I ran criticizing Republicans and Democrats,” she said. “I have no problem pointing fingers at everyone.”
Greene has won fans among some Democrats for her outspoken criticism of her party, especially over the shutdown, Trump’s sweeping global tariffs and the war in Gaza, which she has called “a genocide.” But she has conspicuously avoided turning that criticism toward the president.
When one of the hosts remarked that Trump “may not love you back right now,” Greene responded simply, “That’s OK.”
Greene also argued that both parties had mishandled government records related to Jeffrey Epstein, calling it “a failure across administrations.” Trump has offered similar criticism of Democrats, even as critics say his own administration has failed to turn over all of the documents in its possession.
“You are all victims of the political industrial complex,” Greene said. “It’s built on fundraising and fighting and toxic — just garbage, and that exists all over social media. That’s not going to solve our problems in this country.”
She closed with a message that drew some of the loudest applause of her appearance: a call for women to help step in and steer the country.
“Our red, white, and blue flag is just being ripped to shreds,” she said. “And I think it takes women of maturity to sew it back together.”
