CRACKS IN THE RED WALL

MAGA Stars Turn on Johnson in Heated Strategy Call

Republicans butted heads on a conference call Tuesday over Johnson’s shutdown strategy.

The list of Republicans frustrated with House Speaker Mike Johnson’s strategy of ensuring congress doesn’t do anything while the government is shutdown is growing.

Texas Rep. Dan Crenshaw expressed concern about how the House could make up for all the time it’s spent in recess, according to Axios reporting from a conference call between Republican lawmakers Tuesday.

Johnson sent the House home before the end of September and has kept it out of session ever since. The tactic is designed to pressure Senate Democrats to fund the Republicans’ government spending bill, but Democrats have signaled they won’t sign until it extends Affordable Care Act subsidies.

Crenshaw, 41, is the latest Republican congressperson to express frustration with the Johnson’s strategy. The most vocal critic has undoubtedly been Marjorie Taylor Greene, who has chastised the speaker for having “no policy plan” to address taking Americans off health care if the current budget bill is passed.

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Greene once again lambasted Johnson, 53, on Tuesday’s conference call. The initial reporting from Punchbowl News founder Jake Sherman said Greene demanded Republicans nuke the filibuster and push the funding bill through with a simple majority vote—something Republicans have been reluctant to do for fear of how it could be used against them when Democrats next control the Senate.

Greene, 51, confirmed the reports on X and added, “You left out I said I have no respect for the House not being in session passing our bills and the President’s executive orders. And I demanded to know from Speaker Johnson what the Republican plan for healthcare is...”

Johnson, who has been at odds with MTG since she broke with him on the shutdown strategy, said Republicans had been working “day and night” on a health care solution and whined that Greene shouldn’t bash her colleagues online.

“How does that help us, Marjorie?”, he reportedly asked. Greene wasn’t satisfied.

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“...He refused to give one policy proposal to our GOP conference on our own conference call,” she posted.

The Daily Beast reached out to Mike Johnson for comment.

Republican Rep. Kevin Kiley, 40, of California also expressed frustration with the House being closed during the shutdown, according to sources on the call. Rep. Don Bacon of Nebraska said Republicans should be negotiating with Democrats on Obamacare after the call.

“I do think we should be negotiating the ACA tax credits and have that compromise to put in the Approps bills,” Bacon, 62, told Axios.

Though the grumbly conference call suggests small cracks, the GOP’s shutdown stonewall doesn’t yet appear ready to break. Johnson has maintained that the vast majority of Republicans agree with his strategy, while senior Republican House members on the call agreed that there is not a widespread revolt against Johnson yet.

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Adam DownerBreaking News Reporter

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