The Canadian press
McCarthy meets with Rep. Greene; GOP faces Cheney decision
WASHINGTON – House minority leader Kevin McCarthy met with right-wing MP Marjorie Taylor Greene late Tuesday as Republicans wrestled over how to deal with a bipartisan outcry for their embrace of outlandish conspiracy theories, including proposals that mass shootings be held would be carried out in schools in the country. McCarthy and Greene’s advisors did not immediately comment after the two spent about 90 minutes together in his Capitol office. Their session came as the GOP exposed to unrest from opposite ends of the Republican spectrum over Greene and Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted to indict former President Donald Trump. The dispute underscores the cracks in the GOP as the White House party seeks a way out without Trump. In the absence of Republican action, the Democrats threatened an embarrassing House vote on Wednesday to remove Greene, R-Ga., From their assigned committees. She had been appointed to the Education Committee, a decision that aroused fierce criticism for her suggestion that school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut and Parkland, Florida were jokes. The House’s GOP Steering Committee, a leadership-dominated body that performs committee duties for the party, also met late Tuesday. On social media, Greene has also expressed racist views and supported calls for violence against democratic politicians, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. McCarthy, R-Calif., Has stopped criticizing the first-time Congresswoman, who was named a “future Republican star” by Trump last summer and has remained a solid Trump supporter. Senate Minority Chairman Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., And others this week increased pressure on the House GOP to act. In a statement that did not use Greene’s name, he called her “crazy lies” a “cancer” on the GOP. It was the most recent reference to his concern that the GOP’s pro-Trump factions, the hardest-right factions, have too much influence over the party. Additionally, Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., Who tried to fight the pro-Trump wing of the GOP, said he was in favor of Greene’s removal from their committees and said Republicans had to “take a stand in order to accept it.” deny”. Senator Mitt Romney, R-Utah, a Trump critic and GOP 2012 presidential candidate, said Tuesday that Republicans need to “part with the people who are the crazy weeds.” On the far right of the GOP, lawmakers sought to oust Cheney, a traditional Conservative and daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, from her position as Republican of House No. 3 after she voted in favor of the Trump charge last month. McConnell praised Cheney, R-Wyo., As “a leader of deep conviction and courage,” but the House’s GOP lawmakers planned to meet privately on Wednesday to determine their political fate. The upcoming decisions on Cheney and Greene are a moment of reckoning for a party grappling with its future. Two weeks after Trump stepped down, House Republicans are effectively making a decision on whether to prioritize the former president’s norm-shaking behavioral and conspiracy theories and maintain the loyalty of his constituents to more conservative establishment values. “The moment Joe Biden stumbles to the left, the Republican Party is stumbling from life,” GOP pollster Frank Luntz said of the new Democratic president preparing to muscle a mammoth COVID-19 relief package through the tightly divided Congress. “We can either become a fringe party that never wins elections or rebuild the great Reagan tent party,” said Larry Hogan, one of the few elected Republicans who routinely reprimanded Trump, in a written statement. Without mentioning Cheney or Greene, he added, “I urge Republicans in Congress to make the right choice.” But pro-Trump forces in and out of Washington remain powerful. John Fredericks, who led Trump’s campaigns in Virginia in 2016 and 2020, warned that there would be party primaries against Cheney defenders: “We woke millions upon millions of people, motivated, America’s first Trump voters to believe in the movement “said Fredericks.” If you want to keep Liz Cheney in the lead, there is no party. “Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont., A leader in efforts to oust Cheney, says he has enough support to be successful.” She took it into her own hands, “said Rosendale. He said, Cheney, which included only nine other Republicans Republicans said GOP members would unite against a Democratic move to remove Greene from their committee duties, and that such an effort would help Greene see himself as a victim of Partisan Democrats. How To illustrate that point, Greene herself tweeted calls for funds on Tuesday saying, “With your support, the Democratic mob can’t turn me down,” under a picture of themselves associated with Trump, but Democrats said they believe Some Republicans would support overthrowing green committees and that a House vote would make McCarthy appear weak and support GOP among moderate suburban voters further undermined. Dealing with Greene and Cheney was a difficult balancing act for McCarthy. Condemning Pe Cheney for what McConnell called a “vote of conscience” to impeach would be cumbersome without punishing Greene. Measures against the risk of angering either the GOP’s numerous Trump supporters or its more traditional conservative supporters. “You can’t just do the normal political song and dance and easily appease this side and easily appease this side,” said former MP Mark Sanford, RS.C., who lost a 2018 party primer after clashing with Trump. “The whole nature of the Trump phenomenon is that there is no appeasement.” McCarthy has said he supports Cheney but also has “concerns” which leaves his stance on her unclear. ___ New York peoples reported. The AP Congress correspondent Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report from Washington. Alan Fram, Steve Peoples and Brian Slodysko, The Associated Press
