I can’t say I’ll miss Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, the firebrand Georgia conservative who gave us Jewish space lasers and who shocked the political world last week with her decision to leave Congress. Well, maybe I’ll miss her a little.
But not for the reasons you might expect.
I have found little we could agree on except for some of the reasons she gave for her resignation. The House of Representatives has become polarized and dysfunctional under arguably the worst speaker in history and a GOP majority that too often put serving an autocratic megalomaniac ahead of their own constituents.
Over five years on the national scene she went from being one of US President Donald Trump’s most worshipful allies to him branding her a “traitor” and “ranting lunatic.” To hear her tell it, she was faithful to the populist America First MAGA doctrine while Trump had strayed and was preoccupied with foreign policy while ignoring domestic problems.
The proverbial final straw was her insistence that he keep his campaign pledge to release the Epstein files. He reneged when he reportedly learned his name appeared in his pedophile pal’s papers, leading him to declare demands he keep his promise were a “Democratic hoax.”
She concluded also that “Republicans have no plan” for health care, particularly Trump’s opposition to Obamacare subsidies, something she said would double the cost of coverage for her own adult children.
Call it coincidence but her resignation officially takes place January 5, two days after she becomes eligible for a lifetime congressional pension and its generous health care benefits.
Much to apologize for
In her exit, she apologized for her own role in the nation’s “toxic politics.” There is much for which to atone. She has a history of antisemitism and Islamophobia. She has accused Israel of genocide and opposed aid to the Jewish state and Ukraine. She has advocated the great replacement conspiracy theory, Christian nationalism, and white supremacy.
Her conspiracy theories go beyond Jewish space lasers igniting California’s wildfires, to saying 9/11 was an inside job, school shootings were staged, the Democratic Party was involved in “child sex, satanism, and the occult,” and Muslim women in Congress were part of “an Islamic invasion of our government.” (You can Google for more.)
The 51-year-old three-term lawmaker said she has been getting death threats in the wake of Trump’s attacks, refused to be “a battered wife hoping it all goes away,” and wanted to avoid a “hateful” primary; Trump had already endorsed one of her challengers.
As she exited, Taylor Greene had a dire warning for her Republican colleagues. She foresees a blue wave (Democratic Party victories) in next year’s House of Representatives election and doesn’t want to be around to defend Trump in another impeachment battle.
Trump's grip on GOP is slipping
The Washington Post’s Karen Tumulty suggested the resignation of a MAGA stalwart could be a sign Trump’s grip on the GOP is slipping.
Public confidence in the Congress has sunk to historically low levels – with her help – as most Americans feel it is ridden with scandal, paralyzed by partisanship, and out of touch.
House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-Louisiana) advised fellow Republicans earlier this year to cancel in-person town hall meetings to avoid angry constituents and media coverage.
Trump has effectively sidelined the Republican-led Congress, which has obediently acquiesced to his unprecedented power grab. It is not fair to call the speaker their leader, though that’s what the Constitution says. He more closely resembles a bobblehead doll for the way he just stands in the background nodding whenever Trump is speaking.
When asked about something controversial out of the White House, he often appears uninformed, uninterested, and unconscious. His go-to response is likely some variation of “I don’t know anything about that.”
The Bulwark, a group of anti-Trump Republicans, accused Johnson of “abetting authoritarianism” and being “a flunky who will rationalize [Trump’s] crimes.”
Former Republican congressman and co-host of the Morning Joe TV program, Joe Scarborough, said Johnson “lies so pretty. I mean, it’s so easy for him to lie.”
Rep. Jamie Raskin (D-Maryland, 8th district) told Axios: “Mike Johnson has made the Republican majority completely irrelevant and the job of being a Republican representative totally unfulfilling. I think MTG feels the unbearable emptiness of being a Republican today.”
Johnson vs Greene
Johnson claims he was a constitutional lawyer before coming to Congress, but he apparently slept through the classes on Article I of the Constitution and the part about separation of powers. He seems to have forgotten he swore an oath to the Constitution, not Donald Trump, and the speakership is not a White House staff job.
Greene had tried to overthrow Johnson in May 2024 – the year she was dreaming of being Trump’s VP running mate – and got only 10 Republican colleagues to join her. One of her charges against him was that he was pushing a bipartisan funding bill for Israel and Ukraine, which she opposed.
He got his gavel because House Republicans dumped another ineffective speaker, Kevin McCarthy, the first ever removed by a vote of the full House.
As one who spent several decades working in and around the House, I have a great affection for the institution – and considerable disappointment for its present state. During those years I saw two of the strongest speakers in history, Democrats Tip O’Neil and Nancy Pelosi, and two of the weakest, Republicans John Boehner and McCarthy.
Johnson’s handling of history’s longest government shutdown helped rank him among history’s most incompetent and impotent speakers. He sent the House home for more than seven weeks of paid vacation to prevent a vote on releasing the Epstein files. He refused to swear in a newly-elected Democratic congresswoman from Arizona because her vote was the last one needed to force bringing the matter to the floor.
He was opposed until Trump realized he was about to lose the vote big time and switched to support.
After a brief return from their shutdown vacation, Congress went home again for Thanksgiving; they will briefly drop by Washington next month before taking off the rest of the year for Christmas. By the time they return, MTG will be gone, they’ll go into re-election mode and flood their constituents with pleas for contributions and votes so they can continue their exemplary service.
The writer is a Washington-based journalist, consultant, lobbyist, and former legislative director at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee.