Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) abrupt decision to quit Congress could reshape the foreign policy debate among Capitol Hill Republicans as they grapple with the future — and the very meaning — of President Trump’s “America First” mantra.
Greene, perhaps more than anyone else in the Capitol, has personified the isolationist wing of the MAGA movement that propelled Trump’s political rise, and hers along with it. Few lawmakers cheered louder when Trump cracked down on immigration, attacked NATO, bashed his predecessors for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and dismantled the U.S. Agency for International Development as part of this year’s DOGE purge. She is a staunch critic of foreign aid, to include Ukraine and Israel, and has dubbed herself as “America Only.”
Those positions put Greene at odds with other Republicans who saw room in “America First” for “pragmatic” foreign interventions — not to mention the neocons of the old GOP order — but aligned her squarely with Trump’s pledge to shift U.S. policy away from foreign endeavors and focus instead on tackling domestic problems.
“I ran for Congress in 2020 and have fought every single day believing that Make America Great Again meant America First,” she said in the statement announcing her resignation.
In a stunning twist, however, it was tensions over foreign policy that caused the early cracks in the Trump-Greene alliance, as the Georgia firebrand spoke out loudly against the president’s decisions this year to strike Iran, bail out Argentina, send military aid to Ukraine, and continue to arm Israel even as the civilian casualties skyrocketed in Gaza. She was the only congressional Republican to dub Israel’s actions in Gaza a “genocide.”
Trump, in cutting ties with his onetime MAGA ally, called Greene a “raving lunatic” and a “traitor” for vocally criticizing his policies. But Greene fired back, saying she was merely staying pure to the “America First” cause Trump had abandoned. In Greene’s telling, she was simply pressing the president to make good on the commitments he’d made on the campaign trail — vows she said Trump had betrayed by continuing, and in some cases escalating, U.S. interventions overseas.
“My only goal and desire has ever been to hold the Republican Party accountable for the promises it makes to the American people and put America First,” she said in her resignation statement.
“If I am cast aside by MAGA Inc and replaced by Neocons, Big Pharma, Big Tech, Military Industrial War Complex, foreign leaders, and the elite donor class that can’t even relate to real Americans,” she added, “then many common Americans have been cast aside and replaced as well.”
Her exit means Capitol Hill will have one fewer Republican holding Trump’s feet to the fire when it comes to foreign policy endeavors — a role that will be left largely to Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.) and Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), two isolationists who have also jousted frequently with the president over U.S. ventures abroad.
“This is not great news for our country,” Massie said of Greene’s decision to leave Congress.
With her resignation, Greene joins a long list of conservatives who sparred with Trump only to be pushed out of power — a demonstration that the president’s sway over the Republican Party remains enormous despite his diminishing approval ratings. But Paul warned this week that Trump is treading on thin ice as he eyes an aggressive foreign policy — moves that risk alienating his MAGA loyalists.
“If he invades Venezuela or if he approves significant arms sales [to Ukraine], … the rift with Marjorie Greene will pale in comparison to what happens to his movement,” Paul said in an interview with Reason Magazine. “If he invades Venezuela or gives more money to Ukraine, his movement will dissolve.”
Greene had repeatedly led amendments to cut foreign aid to Israel and Ukraine, helping to put her fellow Republicans on the record on the issue and sometimes getting dozens of House Republicans to vote along with her, such as on a July amendment to a Pentagon funding bill that would prevent funds from being used to aid Ukraine. On that amendment, 76 Republicans voted in favor.
But the amendment votes were often a futile effort, frequently failing — sometimes overwhelmingly — on the House floor. In July, a Greene amendment to cut funding to the Israel Cooperative Program that funds missile defense for Israel ended in a 6-422 vote, with Massie being the only Republican who voted with her.
That frustrated Greene, who lashed out at her GOP colleagues: “Both Republicans and Democrats refuse to stop sending your hard earned tax dollars to foreign countries,” she posted on X.
Other Republicans beyond Massie and Paul have downplayed the impact of Greene’s departure on the foreign policy debate — and made clear it is the president who does the most to drive the party’s direction.
“I never saw her as a big force in anything, whether it be domestic or foreign policy,” Rep. Mike Haridopolos (R-Fla.) said of Greene on Tuesday.
“As far as foreign policy, the person I look to is the president and, of course, my longtime friend Marco Rubio,” Haridopolos added, referring to the secretary of State.
And there is plenty of Republican support in Congress for taking a stronger, more active stance in foreign affairs — particularly on legislation imposing sanctions on countries helping enable Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Rep. Brian Fitzpatrick (R-Pa.) last week pledged to submit a discharge petition to force a vote on such legislation, following the Trump administration’s reported 28-point peace plan that was widely panned among some Republicans as a pro-Moscow proposal. U.S. officials have said the document is not the final offer and that it would likely change. Ukraine agreed to the core elements of the peace plan, a U.S. official confirmed Tuesday to NewsNation.
“A lot of us believe in Ronald Reagan, you know, peace and strength and standing up to a dictator that’s invading an innocent country. I mean, I have such moral clarity on this,” Rep. Don Bacon (R-Neb.), who is leading that effort with Fitzpatrick, told The Hill on Monday. “Not standing up to Russia is a terrible strategic mistake. I want our conference and Republicans to stand up and be clear about it.”
Greene’s resistance to foreign assistance and intervention as she’s gotten on the bad side of Trump has made her some strange bedfellows on the left, some of whom have expressed their appreciation for Greene in light of her resignation announcement.
Media Benjamin, the founder of left-wing peace activist group Code Pink, posted a video on X outside Greene’s office on Monday expressing appreciation for both the Georgian’s stances and a sign posted on her office door warning against foreign lobbying.
“While we can disagree with the congresswoman on all kinds of things, let’s remember, there are very, very few Republican officials who have stood up to the Israel lobby and have called out Israel for its genocide. And for that, we are grateful,” Benjamin said in the video.