Divided GOP Refuses to Punish Greene But Lets Cheney Stay

Rep. Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., the House Minority Leader, refused on Wednesday to take action against Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., for spreading false and dangerous conspiracy theories and threatening violence against Democrats by removing all her committee assignments. However, in a House Republican Conference call, House Republicans voted not to remove Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., from Republican leadership even though she voted to impeach Trump last month.

After days of public silence regarding the position of Greene—a freshman far-right, pro-Donald Trump QAnon conspiracy theorist who spread conspiracy theories that 9/11 was falsified, school shootings were staged, and California wildfires were started by a space laser controlled by Jews, and who endorsed the execution of many high-profile Democrats—in his conference, McCarthy announced in a statement that he denounced Greene’s past statements, but said she should not face any consequences nor accountability for making them.

“Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference,” said McCarthy. He said that instead of punishing her, he would “hold her to her word” that she would be more careful going forward.

This comment comes even after Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., voiced his opposition about Greene’s “loony lies” and said they were a “cancer” to the GOP.

The pushback regarding Greene has been significantly stronger in the Senate than in the House. Besides McConnell, Sens. Rick Scott, R-Fla., and Thom Tillis, R-N.C., were two other high-profile Republicans to blast Greene strongly for her past comments. Tillis called her comments “insane.”

With Greene refusing to show any remorse for her actions, House Democrats, led by House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, D-Md., have vowed to floor a resolution that would remove Greene from Congress, or at the very least, strip her of all her committee assignments. Hoyer said Wednesday that “the Rules Committee will meet this afternoon, and the House will vote on the resolution tomorrow.” This resolution would strip Greene of both her committee assignments on the Budget Committee and the Education and Labor Committee.

The fact that such a resolution will be brought to the floor and the fact that no repercussions were recommended by party leadership against Greene is a concern among many GOP members. Many members worry that the lack of action against far-right members in the party could further damage the GOP’s reputation and make it difficult to win in 2022. Also, by bringing the resolution to the floor, every single House Republican will be put on record on whether or not they choose to support Greene or not. This could prove fatal for many swing-district Republicans, who would be blasted either way. Had party leadership acted quickly, rank-and-file Republicans would not be forced to go on the record about this issue.

McCarthy called this a “partisan power grab.”

There is, obviously, a danger of setting a precedent for when Republicans take the House, they may also try and oust a few Democrats, and there has already been noise made in the GOP about stripping Rep. Ilhan Omar, D-Minn., a Muslim progressive and member of “The Squad,” a group of extremely progressive women of color and including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York, of her committee assignments.

Although it may seem clear that the GOP has become one of far-right members, in the same conference call, a large majority of Republicans voted against removing Rep. Liz Cheney of Wyoming, the third most powerful Republican in the House, from party leadership after she became one of just 10 Republicans who voted to impeach Trump last month.

When asked about her decision to impeach Trump, Cheney said, “I won’t apologize for the vote,” and in a speech during the conference, she said that Trump “summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack,” and that “there has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of his office and his oath to the Constitution.”

In a secret-ballot, closed-door vote, 145 Republicans voted to keep Cheney’s position as the chair of the House Republican Conference, while just 61 voted to remove her. Considering 147 Republicans voted against certifying the electoral votes for President Joe Biden’s electoral win back in January, it means that at least 86 Republicans believe in private that they believe Trump is wrong, yet refuse to go on the record about it.

Though some Trump loyalists blasted Cheney for voting to impeach Trump, some Republicans, like Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, blasted McCarthy instead.

The Trump issue continues to remain a major point of debate in the Republican Party, and it seems like three distinct factions have emerged with the GOP: the first is the hardcore pro-Trump Republicans along with the House Freedom Caucus, another is the more-moderate institutionalist or moderate Republicans who don’t back Trump, and a third group, which notably includes McCarthy, that floats around clinging to different groups depending on convenience but operating in fear of being ousted by the first group.

Whether or not the GOP should cling to Trump seems a question that has been decided: many Republicans seem to be nodding in that direction, including McCarthy, who met with Trump a week ago. But whether or not this will pay off remains to be seen. If Democrats succeed in making Donald Trump and Marjorie Taylor Greene the face of the GOP, it could prove to be a winning strategy in 2022.