Greene: ‘most Americans’ not worried about government shutdown

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) on Friday said she thinks most Americans are not worried about a government shutdown, saying they know what it feels like after the COVID-19 pandemic.

“I promise you most Americans aren’t too worried about a government shutdown,” she told CNN’s Manu Raju, saying a shutdown is a serious problem.

“People in Washington need to understand how it feels to be shut down because the American people know exactly how it feels,” she said. “They lost their businesses, they lost jobs, kids lost almost two years of school. I mean, it’s not like the American people don’t understand shutdowns.”

Greene made the remarks at a point where a shutdown seemed likely, with Republicans deeply divided over how to fund the government. On Saturday, however, Speaker Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reversed course, moving a clean, 45-day funding bill to the floor that was passed by the House. It appears likely to be approved by the Senate and signed by President Biden, preventing a shutdown.

In the last several weeks, Green has been among a group of House conservatives pressing for deep spending cuts as part of the shutdown talks. Greene previously said she was a “hard no” on two spending bills proposed by McCarthy because they included aid for Ukraine. She also said she wouldn’t vote on government funding without the House holding a vote to open an impeachment inquiry into Biden.