White House blasts Marjorie Taylor Greene for threatening government shutdown over Biden impeachment inquiry

WASHINGTON − The White House slammed Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for saying she's willing to stop funding the government if Congress doesn't hold a vote to open an impeachment inquiry on President Joe Biden, warning Republicans not to let the "hardcore fringe of their party" force a shutdown.

Greene, a hardline conservative from Georgia, said Thursday during a town hall in her district, "I've already decided I will not vote to fund the government unless we have passed an impeachment inquiry on Joe Biden."

Congress is set to return from recess after Labor Day weekend, when Biden wants Congress to adopt a short-term funding measure to avert a government shutdown when the fiscal year ends Sept. 30.

"The last thing the American people deserve is for extreme House members to trigger a government shutdown that hurts our economy, undermines our disaster preparedness, and forces our troops to work without guaranteed pay," White House spokesman Andrew Bates said.

Greene, a favorite target of the White House for her polarizing statements, also said she will not vote to fund the government unless Congress defunds "the Biden regime's weaponized government," including ending funding for special counsel Jack Smith, who is leading two criminal cases against former President Donald Trump.

She added that she won't vote for a funding resolution that supports COVID-19 vaccine mandates "because that is over" or increases aid to Ukraine to defend itself against Russia.

House Speaker Kevin McCarthy has started framing a potential impeachment inquiry of Biden and the House Oversight Committee's ongoing investigation into Hunter Biden's overseas businesses dealings as incentives for the far-right flank of his party to support funding the government past September.

“If we shut down, all of government shuts down − investigations and everything else,” McCarthy said last Sunday on Fox News, calling an impeachment inquiry "a natural next step" following the committee's work.

Republicans have failed to produce evidence that then-Vice President Joe Biden benefitted financially from Hunter Biden's role as a board member for Burisma, a Ukrainian energy company.

Bates said it "would be a shame" if House Republicans "fail the country because they caved to the hardcore fringe of their party in prioritizing a baseless impeachment stunt over high stakes needs Americans care about deeply – like fighting fentanyl trafficking, protecting our national security, and funding FEMA.”

Reach Joey Garrison on X @joeygarrison.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: White House blasts Marjorie Taylor Greene's government shutdown threat