(The Center Square) – Republican Georgia U.S. Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s social media feeds are usually peppered with posts complaining about Democratic policies.
But this week, the Rome congresswoman shared a post from U.S. House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, D-N.Y., about the rising cost of health care.
“Everyday Americans already pay too much to see a doctor or visit the hospital,” Jeffries said in the post. “The Republican health care crisis is making things worse.”
Greene responded by saying, “The ACA (Obamacare) was passed in 2010 by Democrats, which created the health care crisis we are now in. The results have been insurers leaving the marketplace, premiums skyrocketing, and the level of care dropping. D’s want to keep funding it and R’s have no new solution.”
U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock, D-Ga., has repeatedly said he would not vote for a continuing resolution that doesn’t extend Affordable Care Act subsidies. On Thursday, Warnock shared a conversation he had with someone identified as a retired school librarian who said his monthly health care premiums could increase 150% from $440 to $1,100.
“Folks, that’s what this fight is about,” Warnock said in a video on X. “Folk who have worked for decades in this case, working with school children, should be able to retire with dignity and not have to spend $1,000 a month for their health care.”
U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff has also said he will hold out until the subsidies are extended.
Greene said the situation is personal.
“But I’m going to go against everyone on this issue because when the tax credits expire this year my own adult children’s insurance premiums for 2026 are going to double, along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district,” Greene said.
Greene criticized her party for not talking about the rising health care premiums while funding military operations overseas.
“All our country does is fund foreign countries and foreign wars, and never does anything to help the American people,” Green said. “It is absolutely shameful, disgusting, and traitorous, that our laws and policies screw the American people so much that the government is shut down right now fighting over basic issues like this.”
While Warnock said he would not vote to reopen the government until something was done about the subsidies, Greene presented a different plan. She is calling on Senate Republican leadership to use what is called the “nuclear option” to pass a continuing resolution with a simple majority vote.
“Bipartisanship is dead and everyone knows it,” Greene said. “Republicans should use the nuclear option and pass our agenda. Democrats most definitely will if they regain power.”
The government shutdown entered its ninth day on Thursday. The latest casualty is the Internal Revenue Service, which said it has furloughed 47% of its workforce. Only agencies considered “essential” continue to operate.
