Marjorie Taylor Greene Finds Herself Isolated Among Republicans

Marjorie Taylor Greene is finding herself in an increasingly isolated position on the Republican right after speaking favorably about the debt ceiling deal agreed upon between President Joe Biden and Speaker Kevin McCarthy, the final details of which were approved on Sunday.

The House Republican claimed the agreement would "clawback $400 MILLION" spent on overseas health aid, and endorsed a post from a conservative activist describing the deal as "a win for conservatives."

The agreement, which raises the $31.5 trillion debt limit for two years and cuts some federal spending, is designed to prevent a historic U.S. default on its debt in early June. Whilst firmly on the GOP right, Greene has been a strong McCarthy ally since she backed his bid to be House speaker in January, which a number of other conservatives tried to block.

News that a tentative deal had been reached was confirmed by Biden and McCarthy on Saturday before a final agreement was reached the next day. Under its terms, non-defense discretionary spending will remain "roughly flat" in 2024, and only rise by one percent in 2025. Additional work requirements will be added for those on food assistance programs, while the Internal Revenue Service budget will be cut.

On Sunday, Greene tweeted warmly about the provisional deal, which she claimed will end $400 million in overseas aid from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and cut the federal agency's program for "vaccine distribution and monitoring."

After the deal was finalized, Greene doubled down on this position, sharing a tweet from conservative campaigner and activist Mike Davis: "The debt-ceiling fight is a win for conservatives. After 2+ decades, we're finally bending curve on discretionary spending."

Greene wrote: "Wise viewpoint from a strong conservative. The debt ceiling fight has never been our only chance. This is a game of inches and we have the momentum. The bill text is not even out yet, let's wait to read the bill."

However, other Republicans, particularly on the party's right, have expressed skepticism about the deal.

Colorado Representative Lauren Boebert vowed to vote against the plan, commenting: "Our base didn't volunteer, door knock and fight so hard to get us the majority for this kind of compromise deal with Joe Biden.

"Our voters deserve better than this. We work for them."

Senator Ted Cruz described the agreement as a "blank check" for Democrats, claiming it eliminates "virtually ALL" of the spending cuts proposed by House Republicans.

Ralph Norman, a Republican representative for South Carolina, branded the deal "insanity."

He added: "A $4T debt ceiling increase with virtually no cuts is not what we agreed to.

"Not gonna vote to bankrupt our country. The American people deserve better."

On Sunday, a joint statement from House Republican leaders—Speaker McCarthy, Majority Leader Steve Scalise, Majority Whip Tom Emmer, and Chairwoman Elise Stefanik—welcomed the deal.

"The American people elected House Republicans to stop the out-of-control inflationary spending that has broken family budgets. Today, we secured a historic series of wins worthy of the American people," the statement read.

"We cut spending year-over-year for the first time in over a decade while fully funding national defense and veterans' health benefits, include the largest rescission in history by clawing back billions in unspent COVID funds, and achieve consequential work requirements to welfare programs to lift Americans out of poverty and grow the economy. We enact for the first time into law 'Pay-Go' rules for the Executive Branch, which forces the Executive Branch to find dollar-for-dollar savings in the government for costly rules and regulations so that executive overreach is reined in and held accountable."

Newsweek has contacted Representative Greene for comment by telephone and voicemail message.