Freedom Caucus Pushes To Oust Cheney And Kinzinger From GOP Conference: ‘Simped For Pelosi’
"Members of the right-wing Freedom Caucus on Thursday announced an effort to expel Reps. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) from the House Republican conference, the starkest showing yet of growing hostility within the GOP towards the two anti-Trump lawmakers.
Key Facts
Rep. Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.), the chair of the Freedom Caucus, said during a press conference on Thursday that a conference rule change has been introduced that would oust any member who takes a committee assignment from the other party.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi tapped Cheney and Kinzinger for a panel probing the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol after House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy pulled all five of his picks when Pelosi refused to seat Reps. Jim Banks (R-Ind.) and Jim Jordan (R-Ohio).
The next step is for the rule change to be considered by an internal committee, according to a source familiar with the process – Biggs expressed confidence the votes are there to expel them, but said that vote likely won’t happen before Congress breaks for its August recess.
Freedom Caucus members said Cheney and Kinzinger have betrayed Republicans by serving on the committee, with Rep. Lauren Boebert (R-Colo.) alleging they’ve “simped for Pelosi” and “done more to hurt the Republican Party than help them.”
Rep. Dan Bishop (R-N.C.) went so far as to suggest the two lawmakers “abused their power” by taking committee assignments from Pelosi rather than the GOP steering committee.
Kinzinger spokesperson Maura Gillespie told Forbes she is “not surprised by the pettiness of the Freedom Club,” but said it “saddens me to see Members of Congress play such games like this,” accusing them of pushing conspiracy theories “for their own personal gain.”
A Cheney spokesperson said the lawmakers represent a “dangerous rot” rooted in “the Big Lie, conspiracy theories, bigotry and disrespect for the rule of law,” adding that Cheney “knows we have to fight against that to save the party.”
No comments:
Post a Comment