Georgia Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene is calling on Senate Republicans to “go nuclear” and scrap the 60-vote threshold that allows the minority party to block most legislation in order to pass a funding bill and end the government shutdown.
On a conference call with House Republicans Tuesday, Greene urged Senate Majority Leader John Thune to invoke the so-called nuclear option to eliminate the filibuster, Punchbowl News’ Jake Sherman reported. The tactic would allow the GOP to push through major policy priorities on a simple-majority vote.
The last time Republicans used that procedural maneuver, they changed confirmation rules for certain executive-branch nominees, allowing lower-level appointees to be approved in groups rather than one by one.
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene talks with reporters after a meeting of the House Republican Conference at the Capitol Hill Club on Tuesday, September 9, 2025.
Tom Williams/CQ-Roll Call, Inc via Getty Images
After Sherman reported the news, Greene doubled down on her comments on X.
“You left out that I said I have no respect for the House not being in session passing our bills and the President’s executive orders,” Greene wrote. “And I demanded to know from Speaker Johnson what the Republican plan for healthcare is to build the off-ramp off Obamacare and the ACA tax credits to make health insurance affordable for Americans.”
The remarks come as the federal government remains partially shut down while Democrats and Republicans argue over extending Affordable Care Act tax subsidies — a key provision that helps millions of Americans lower their monthly health insurance premiums. Without that extension, costs for many working families have climbed heading into open enrollment season.
Greene said Speaker Mike Johnson told members “he’s got ideas and pages of policy ideas” under review by House committees, but “refused to give one policy proposal” during the call.
“Apparently I have to go into a SCIF to find out the Republican healthcare plan!!!” Greene added, referring to the secure rooms used for classified information.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s push for expanding Obamacare subsidies
The exchange underscores growing divisions inside the GOP as the party faces pressure to present a clear alternative to the Affordable Care Act — and as the ongoing shutdown adds new urgency to the debate over how to make health care affordable for everyday Americans.
Greene has previously said that, while she is “not a fan” of the ACA, she might vote to extend it due to the concerns of her constituents in Georgia.
“I’m getting phone calls from people that are saying if the ACA tax credits expire, they aren’t going to be able to have health insurance,” Greene said during an interview with CNN earlier in October. “They’re going to have to drop it.”
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