We need to talk about Marjorie Taylor Greene and Washington’s broken incentives

Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s (R-Ga.) attempt to oust Speaker Mike Johnson (R-La.) has little chance of succeeding. Donald Trump and even Rep. Matt Gaetz (R-Fla.) have declined to rally to her side. One could argue, then, that the wise course of action would be to ignore it and starve her of the attention she’s clearly seeking. But in this case, that would be a missed opportunity for an important conversation.

Greene’s selfish charade has much to teach us about the broken incentives that have pushed both parties toward the extremes. While few politicians are as shameless as her in acquiescing to these incentives, most are swayed by them nonetheless. In that way, Greene is doing us a favor (of sorts) by allowing us to see these ugly forces for what they are.

The sad truth is that the motion to vacate will be a smashing success for her financially and politically. Her campaign is already aggressively fundraising off of how little support this endeavor has from her own party. This is learned behavior. As David Kirkpatrick reports in the New Yorker, fringe antics like this have made Greene a fundraising juggernaut. She consistently ranks among the top small dollar fundraisers in the U.S. House.

Other politicians watch and learn as well. They see an apparent correlation between how damaging a behavior is for the country and how lucrative it is for the individual perpetrating it. From members of “the squad” on the far left to the Freedom Caucus on the far right, standing alone is seen by too many as valiant, while working with others is viewed as cowardly. 

Greene’s career as a legislator is evidence of where this leads. She has not sponsored a single bill that has been signed into law since coming into office. This is because, of the 71 bills she has sponsored, only one had a Democratic co-sponsor and it was a resolution congratulating the University of Georgia for winning the college football championship.

The Lugar Center’s annual bipartisan index ranks her 434th out of 435 members, but it also shows that she is far from alone. It notes a steep drop in bipartisanship across the entire Congress. And we’ve seen the results play out in real time: This is officially one of the least productive sessions of Congress in U.S. history, with fewer bills passed at this point than any time since the Great Depression.

Yet there is a paradox inherent in all this. While individual members don’t want to be bipartisan, they still want to reap the benefits of bipartisanship. In a recent email to her supporters, Greene boasted that her district had received federal funds for infrastructure improvements, despite having voted against the bill that made it possible.

We see this hypocrisy everywhere in modern politics. In 2021, some Democrats opposed the infrastructure compromise crafted by the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus — until it became clear that it was the only viable path forward. Now, those same Democrats claim credit for the ideas.

As a former moderate Republican House member who took my lumps for working for a bipartisan consensus to get things done, I believe the answer to all of this is clear. We need to redefine what it means to be politically courageous.

Those like Greene shouldn’t get away with portraying themselves as brave for fighting for their own self-interests. Standing alone isn’t brave when the modern system is set up to reward it.

Real courage comes from forging consensus and working with others. Those who do so take an extraordinary political risk, yet it is the fruits of their bipartisanship that feed the entire system, including the Greenes of the world who seek credit for their victories.

To begin healing our system, we need to call out and reward true courage. That’s what No Labels, which I am a part of, is seeking to do by championing problem solvers and realigning the incentives that are pushing the parties toward the extremes. We need to build out the infrastructure that raises money and marshals support for these truly brave leaders.

And even though it may be tempting, we can’t afford to ignore actions like Greene’s motion to vacate. We need to call these selfish ploys out for what they are — cowardice — and take them as opportunities to talk about what real courage looks like.

Fred Upton is No Labels vice chairman and served in Congress from Michigan from 1987-2023.