Marjorie Taylor Greene blasts Johnson over GOP silence on healthcare during shutdown

WASHINGTON, DC: Rep Marjorie Taylor Greene lashed out at House Speaker Mike Johnson on Tuesday, October 28, accusing him of failing to lead and the GOP of lacking a specific plan on healthcare, as the government shutdown continues. 

Her remarks came after Jake Sherman from 'Punchbowl News' reported that during a private House Republican conference call, Greene complained that she was “tired of people listening to the White House political staff.”

She urged Senate GOP leader John Thune to “use the nuclear option and reopen the government,” a reference to ending the filibuster to push through a funding bill.

Greene targets Johnson over lack of GOP agenda

Responding to Sherman’s post on social media, Greene added that she had “no respect for the House not being in session passing our bills and the President’s executive orders.”

She said that she demanded to know from Speaker Johnson what the Republican plan was to “build the off-ramp off Obamacare and the ACA tax credits” and make health insurance affordable.

According to Greene, Johnson told members that "committees of jurisdiction are working on" policy ideas but refused to share any concrete proposal with the GOP conference.

“Apparently I have to go into a SCIF to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!” Greene wrote, in a sarcastic reference to the secure rooms used for classified briefings.

The Georgia congresswoman, once a vocal Trump ally, has increasingly distanced herself from both President Trump and GOP leadership, emerging as a disruptive force within the Republican conference.

Johnson defends his actions and blames Democrats 

With President Donald Trump on a weeklong trip across Asia, House Speaker Johnson said on Monday that the president has left it to congressional Republicans to resolve the ongoing government shutdown, now entering its fourth week.

Asked whether Trump’s presence in Washington might help break the impasse, Johnson replied, “President Trump has entrusted us to fix this because this is an Article I branch problem.” 

"It’s up to the Democrats, everybody knows that," he added.

Johnson said that the central issue in the funding battle, the health care reforms, can't be resolved through a short-term spending bill, as Democrats have proposed.

“The reason it was never appropriate or never possible to be resolved in a simple CR, a stopgap funding measure, is because it’s very complicated to fix,” Johnson said.

Rejecting calls from Senate Minority Leader Schumer for private talks, Johnson insisted he would not negotiate a small backroom deal.

Senate fails to advance funding bill in 54-45 vote

The procedural vote to move forward on the House-passed continuing resolution failed in a 54 to 45 vote on Tuesday, the reported 13th time it has fallen short. 

Three Democrats, Catherine Cortez Masto, John Fetterman and Angus King, voted with Republicans to advance the measure.