House Republicans held a lawmaker-only conference call on Tuesday that grew tense when Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., confronted Speaker Mike Johnson, R-La., on his strategy to navigate the ongoing government shutdown.
Johnson has been holding weekly calls to keep GOP lawmakers updated on the shutdown while instructing them to remain in their home districts rather than in Washington.
It’s part of Johnson’s pressure strategy to force Senate Democrats into accepting the GOP’s federal funding plan.
However, Fox News Digital was told that Greene forcefully countered that Republicans’ House majority was ‘being wasted’ by staying in their districts.
She said House Republicans would be better served passing legislation in Washington and finding an ‘off ramp’ to COVID-19 pandemic-era Obamacare subsidies that are set to expire at the end of this year if a deal isn’t reached.
An extension of those subsidies has been Democrats’ main demand in exchange for agreeing to any funding deal.
‘You guys need to get out of Washington, D.C., and go back to your districts and talk to real people, because real people are pissed,’ Greene told House GOP leaders, Fox News Digital learned. ‘They expect us to do our legislative constitutional duty and not take marching orders from the political team at the White House.’
She turned her ire on President Donald Trump as well, pointing out she was one of his earliest fervent supporters but adding, ‘Even the president is losing support.’
Fox News Digital was told that Johnson defended Republicans’ legislative record so far as well as Trump’s popularity among the GOP base.
He also said he and other Republican leaders had been working tirelessly to end the shutdown, Fox News Digital was told.
‘He’s not sleeping. I’m not sleeping … because we are working around the clock,’ Johnson said.
Johnson then went further and criticized Greene for airing her concerns with the GOP’s direction on social media, asking her, ‘How does that help us, Marjorie?’
Several other House Republicans who spoke up defended Johnson’s handling of the shutdown, Fox News Digital was told.
Two notable exceptions were Reps. Kevin Kiley, R-Calif., and Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, who Fox News Digital was told also raised concerns about keeping the House out.
The speaker has kept the House out of Washington since Sept. 19, when his chamber passed the GOP’s short-term funding bill to give lawmakers until Nov. 21 to reach a deal on government funding.
But Senate Democrats have since rejected that legislation 13 times.
Johnson argued on the call that Republicans were still busy at work despite not being in Washington, Fox News Digital was told.
And while Tuesday’s confrontation marks the first time Greene made her concerns known on the House GOP’s weekly shutdown calls, she has been vocal on social media about her frustration.
Greene even confirmed her side of the account on X while the call was ongoing.
‘I said I have no respect for the House not being in session passing our bills and the President’s executive orders. And I demanded to know from Speaker Johnson what the Republican plan for healthcare is to build the off-ramp off Obamacare and the [Affordable Care Act] tax credits to make health insurance affordable for Americans,’ Greene wrote.
‘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. Apparently I have to go into a [classified setting] to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!’
Fox News Digital reached out to Johnson’s office and the White House for a response but did not immediately hear back.