| It’s just the smallest crack in the wall of Republican unity on the government shutdown. But Representative Marjorie Taylor Green, a Georgia Republican with her finger on the pulse of the party’s populist base, is breaking ranks on extending the Obamacare subsidies at the center of the fight over reopening the government. For Greene, the politics has become personal. While emphasizing she’s no fan of Obamacare, she said in a post on X last night that the insurance premiums for her adult children are going to double next year “along with all the wonderful families and hard-working people in my district.” She accused Republican leaders of lacking a plan to address the expiration of the subsidies that lower premium costs for more than 22 million people.  Greene Photographer: Eric Lee/Bloomberg Not surprisingly, Democrats, who insist on making the subsidies permanent a condition for reopening the government, set aside their past confrontations with Greene and embraced her stance. Senate Democratic leader Chuck Schumer declared that Greene was “absolutely right.” Republican leadership dismissed Greene’s comments. Speaker Mike Johnson of Louisiana told reporters she isn’t read into GOP plans, though he didn’t say what those are beyond insisting that any negotiations take place only after Democrats vote to reopen the government. Most members of the party oppose any extension of the subsidies. Greene, who also has been bucking GOP leadership on release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, is not necessarily a bellwether for the rest of her party. But she is emblematic of the political dilemma for the GOP on the enhanced premium tax credits. Expiration of the subsidies is going to hit red states and districts hardest. Three-quarters of the Obamacare enrollees live in states President Donald Trump won in 2024, according to KFF. Insurance companies will be sending out notices of next year’s premium costs this month. Trump, who also is keenly attuned to his populist base, seemed to open the door to a possible deal with Democrats in off-the-cuff remarks yesterday only to fall back later to default GOP stance that he’ll talk only after the government is reopened. Missouri Republican Senator Josh Hawley, an archconservative with a populist streak, said Congress must find a way to keep premiums from rising “sooner, rather than later.” But majorities in both parties a still holding firm to their positions. As with most tough decisions by Congress, any breakthrough will come slowly, then all at once.— Caitlin Reilly Read More: Trump Threatens No Back Pay for Shutdown’s Furloughed Workers | 
