Republicans Wonder If Mtg’s New Doge Role Will Make Her A Leadership Ally — Or Become A Headache

House Republicans hope Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene’s new role working with Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy’s Department of Government Efficiency will turn her into a leadership ally. Privately, they worry she’ll once again turn into a political headache.

In a move that surprised a number of GOP lawmakers, the Georgia Republican is poised to lead a new House Oversight subcommittee focused on DOGE, the advisory office President-elect Donald Trump created to help slash government spending. Most publicly praised the move, citing her ability to shake conventional norms, close ties with Trump and strong following with the base as key assets for her new role.

Yet, some Republicans also privately fear that Greene — one of the most incendiary and combative elected officials who tends to be on the GOP fringe — will end up being more of a distraction than a helpful facilitator of the DOGE agenda. One House Republican, granted anonymity to speak candidly, said the assignment could be perceived as “rewarding bad behavior.”

Underlying the concerns is the view among Greene’s fellow GOP lawmakers that the post was a payoff from party leadership to shore up her support for Speaker Mike Johnson, who in January will have to convince his conference to let him run the House for another term. Greene said this week that she would support Johnson’s speakership bid, after trying to force him out of the job in May.

“She came in to visit with me about the path forward and how she wanted to be part of the team, part of the solutions. And I welcome that,” Johnson said in an interview, adding that House Oversight Chair James Comer of Kentucky picked her for the spot without consulting him. “There was no quid pro quo. We just decided that cooperation serves the country.”

The situation illustrates Johnson’s wider efforts in the House GOP. He’s working to keep his critics on his side ahead of the speakership vote and beyond, all while balancing the needs of an ideologically diverse conference with an incredibly ambitious agenda on immigration, spending cuts and taxes. Through it all, he needs to keep Trump, as well as Trump allies like Greene, as happy as possible.

Some Republicans are hoping the role will make Greene more aligned with leadership, citing her change in behavior when she began working closely with former Speaker Kevin McCarthy.

“If she is operating like she did with Speaker McCarthy, moving forward, she’s gonna be a pleasure to work with. If she goes back to how it was, then it’s probably gonna be a little bit more challenging. But I have faith … that she can go back and be a really productive member of the body,” said Rep. Max Miller (R-Ohio), a former Trump campaign aide and McCarthy ally who noted that “the extra responsibility” may help encourage her on this path.

Greene, however, isn’t making any commitments about being a team player — she viewed the term with some derision.

“I’ve always faced criticism, but that’s also what makes me perfectly cut for this. And, you know, the team player approach — look, we’re in $36 trillion of debt because everybody played ball,” she said.

The Georgia Republican has a long list of controversies that have made her colleagues cringe. She recently claimed — and later doubled down — that Jews controlled the weather when Hurricane Helene ravaged North Carolina and other southern states ahead of the election and has faced accusations of racism after her verbal spat with Democratic Rep. Jasmine Crockett (D-Texas). (Crockett also faced criticism over her response to Greene, which some labeled homophobic.)

Greene’s not ready to publicly discuss her top goals on the panel, saying she’s still working out priorities like the committee witnesses they want to hear from first. But she indicated Musk’s and Ramaswamy’s stated intention to cut $2 trillion from the federal budget “is a very worthy goal mark” that she believes would be “difficult” but “attainable.”

The Georgia Republican did say she expects frequent communication with Musk and Ramaswamy. She met with the duo during their Hill visit on Thursday in a small group, along with Johnson.

Additionally, she cited a range of areas she is eager to examine for waste, fraud and abuse. That included: federal union contracts, the California rail project, Ukraine aid, “crazy grants,” non-government organizations who have aided undocumented immigrants and federal dollars that go toward gender-affirming surgery for children. Plus, she wants to hear direct feedback from the American people on other potential areas to scrutinize.

“I, myself, have been critical of my own party many times. It probably is equally as much, sometimes, as I have been of Democrats. And so I’m looking at this as a really good chance to take my critical eye and use it in a subcommittee and use it in hearings,” she said.

Yet, she got backing from various corners of the party, from the conservatives, leadership and more centrist members. Rep. Tony Gonzales (R-Texas), who’s on the Homeland Security Committee with Greene, said she’s “exactly the right person.”

“If you’re going to shake up Washington, Marjorie comes to mind,” Gonzales said.

And Comer, who echoed Johnson that he had picked Greene without consulting the speaker, said he thought the role would be a good fit given she’s “very energetic and high profile.”

“I think she wants to prove people wrong. She knows there’s people criticizing,” Comer added.