Watching U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Rome, constantly attack House Speaker Mike Johnson and fellow Republicans in recent weeks, Democrats in Congress probably couldn’t have devised a better plan to keep voters focused on the GOP troubles and dysfunction in Congress.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene is the star of the show,” House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries told reporters on Wednesday. “The show is called ‘Republicans Gone Wild.’”
That show has been running the entire 118th Congress, starting with the GOP battle over the election of Speaker Kevin McCarthy, his unprecedented ouster last October by Republican rebels, the crazy three-week search for a successor, and now Greene’s continued attacks on her own party’s leadership.
“It’s time to move past extremist brinkmanship,” said U.S. Rep. Angie Craig, D-Minn., “and actually govern for the American people.”
What the last two months have shown more than anything else is how isolated Greene has become in her own party.
The Georgia Republican was one of just 12 GOP lawmakers who voted against all aid to Israel, Ukraine, and Taiwan, and also opposed bipartisan compromises on funding for the federal government.
In other words, there is a big bipartisan majority in Congress ready to get things done, no matter what Greene yells from the sidelines.
“By minimizing the ‘chaos caucus,’” said U.S. Rep. Tom Suozzi, D-N.Y., “the House can do more things on a bipartisan basis.”
Greene has been threatening a vote on Johnson’s future since before Easter, but she keeps waiting, trying the patience of members of her party. It has led many on Capitol Hill to conclude that she has little support for any GOP rebellion.
“Republicans cannot fall into the trap of haphazardly making a motion to vacate the chair,” said U.S. Rep. Dan Meuser, R-Pa., who complained that the threats help Democrats argue that they are the ‘rational bipartisan party.’
Democrats are more than happy to embrace that exact argument.
“Marjorie Taylor Greene refuses to take her job seriously, prioritizing political antics over her oath to serve her country,” said U.S. Rep. Mike Thompson, D-Calif.
What Greene wants next week is to put all Republicans on the record about Speaker Johnson, making it easier to target GOP lawmakers who publicly support him.
And that keeps the focus on Republican versus Republican infighting on Capitol Hill — not on the issues GOP leaders would rather talk about before November.
And the best part for Democrats is they can just sit back and watch the GOP show.
Jamie Dupree has covered national politics and Congress from Washington, D.C. since the Reagan administration. His column appears weekly in The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. For more, check out his Capitol Hill newsletter at http://jamiedupree.substack.com
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