Portrait of Marjorie Taylor Greene
Politician · policy
Wikipedia (opens in new tab)

Marjorie Taylor Greene on Government Shutdown

Willing to use shutdown (strong)

TL;DR

Marjorie Taylor Greene strongly supports using the threat of a government shutdown to extract conservative policy concessions.

Key Points

  • She previously called for the House to reject any short-term spending patch that did not include specific conservative border security measures.

  • The representative has suggested that Senate Republicans should use the "nuclear option" to unilaterally pass a Continuing Resolution, circumventing the other chamber.

  • During one funding lapse, she sounded an alarm over expiring health-care subsidies that needed to be addressed amidst the ongoing shutdown process.

Summary

Marjorie Taylor Greene has consistently advocated for utilizing the threat of a government funding lapse, or shutdown, as leverage to achieve conservative policy goals, often conditioning her support for funding bills on the inclusion of specific measures.

Her stance has sometimes placed her at odds with House Republican leadership when those leaders pursued clean funding extensions or bipartisan compromises to avert a shutdown, as she often views such moves as capitulation. While expressing a willingness to shut down the government to force action on issues like border security or spending cuts, she has also directed blame toward both parties when shutdowns have occurred, though her primary frustration often targets the Republican establishment for not being conservative enough.

Key Quotes

"I've been calling for Democrats in the Senate to vote on the CR that we passed in the House to reopen the government. And if they're unwilling to do it, over a month ago, I asked my Senate Republican colleagues to use the nuclear option and override the filibuster and pass the CR themselves"

Frequently Asked Questions

Marjorie Taylor Greene maintains a strong position that the threat of a government shutdown is a necessary tool for conservative lawmakers to force policy changes. She is generally against funding the government unless certain conservative demands, particularly regarding border security, are met within the funding legislation.

Her core stance—that shutdowns are an acceptable tactic to secure policy wins—has remained consistent, though the specific conditions she attaches to funding bills have shifted with legislative circumstances. She has, at times, criticized leadership from both parties during shutdown negotiations.

She has stated that blame for a government shutdown should be shared by both sides of the aisle when funding lapses occur. However, her primary critique is often directed at the House Republican establishment for not adhering to conservative principles when negotiating appropriations.