She used to fight for Trump like her career depended on it. Now, Marjorie Taylor Greene is fighting whoever gets in her way, even if they wear the same red tie.
Earlier this year, the White House quietly urged Greene not to run for Senate. She agreed to stay put, but the move did not cool her down. If anything, it gave her more room to pick fights.
In recent months, Greene has slammed Trump’s military strikes in the Middle East, called Israel’s campaign in Gaza a “genocide,” demanded that the Justice Department release its Epstein case files, and even joined Democrats in pushing to extend Affordable Care Act subsidies.
“I’m not some sort of blind slave to the president, and I don’t think anyone should be,” she said. “I serve in Congress. We’re a separate branch of government. I’m elected by my district, not by the president or anyone who works for him.”
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Greene pointed out that she won her first primary in 2020 without Trump’s help. “So I get to be independent as a Republican,” she said. “And I think what helps him the most is when people around him are honest, not just telling him what he wants to hear.”
She claims her recent independence has nothing to do with her scrapped Senate plans. “I don’t want to serve in that institution,” she said flatly. “They’re the reason the government is shut down. All good things go to die in the Senate.”
Still, people close to her say there is more going on behind the scenes. Several Republicans familiar with her thinking said Greene was frustrated after being passed over for a Trump administration role. One source said she had hoped for a job at Homeland Security. Another said she feels ignored by party leaders and cut out of major decisions.
Trump has noticed the distance. Two senior Republicans said he recently called around asking, “What’s going on with Marjorie?”
Greene insists she still supports him. But her patience with the White House has thinned. Aides tried to pressure her into pulling her name from a petition to release Epstein-related files. When an unnamed official told reporters that signing it would be a “hostile act,” Greene fired back on Real America’s Voice, calling the person a “coward.”
Last month, she skipped the opening of Trump’s Rose Garden Club at the White House. Her office blamed illness, but allies say she simply did not want to go.
She has also grown more combative with Speaker Mike Johnson. Greene tried to oust him last year over his support for Ukraine aid and now says she owes him “zero loyalty.” Unlike Kevin McCarthy, who kept her close, Johnson has mostly stayed out of her orbit and she seems fine with that.
“I didn’t run as an establishment Republican,” she said. “When I first ran for Congress, I had never even been to a party meeting. I look at real problems, not party talking points. That gives me a different view of things.”
That view has led her to some unlikely positions. She recently backed an extension of Obamacare subsidies, saying her own children would suffer if Republicans let them lapse. “What I am upset over is my party has no solution,” she said. “This is a real issue for Americans, and we cannot ignore it.”
Greene says she plans to run for reelection next year, though she admits her frustration with Washington is growing. “Right now, I’m just like, damn it, why aren’t we back at work?” she said.
Featured image via Political Tribune Gallery
