The burning confrontation this week in the House between the president of the Republican Conference Liz Cheney
Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn Cheney The Hill Campaign Report: Campaigns gearing up for the final stretch on Election Day The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by Facebook – 0 expired unemployment benefit Sinking Trump seeks to crush republican dissent MORE (R-Wyo.) And a group of conservative lawmakers has sparked a broader conversation among members of the Republican Party about the party’s future path and Cheney’s own political career.
Cheney, a scion who became House Republican No. 3 in her second House term, found herself on the receiving end of attacks on her leadership style and loyalty to President Trump
Donald John Trump, Justice Department, says 18 people face federal charges after Portland’s protests against the U.S. He takes over the former Chinese consulate in Houston. Defense Overnight: Republican Senator Aims to Rename Confederate Base | Trump approves sale of more larger armed drones MORE at a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.
Members who witnessed the crash described it as a “coordinated attack” led by representatives. Matt Gaetz
Matthew (Matt) Trade negotiations must not interrupt internal debate Trump beats Cheney as he faces criticism from other Republicans The Hill’s 12:30 Report – Presented by Facebook – Yoho apologizes for tackling AOC MORE (R-Fla.), Thomas massie
Thomas Harold Massie Nicholas Sandmann Announces Settlement With The Washington Post In A Defamation Lawsuit Trump Beats Cheney As He Faces Criticism From Other Republicans The Hill’s Morning Report – Submitted By Facebook – Others To GOP: Where’s Your Bill COVID-19 ? PLUS (R-Ky.) And a handful of members of the House Freedom Caucus.
They criticized Cheney for donating to Massie’s main opponent, previous criticism of Trump’s policies and the support of Anthony Fauci
Anthony Fauci Night Health Care: Trump Issues Orders to Reduce Drug Prices | New CDC Guidelines Favor Reopening of Schools | Fauci defends previous comments. Hill’s Coronavirus Report: Representative Lauren Underwood says Americans will face an economic crisis if the Senate fails to act on the extension of unemployment benefits; US Tops 4 Million Cases, Over 1,000 Deaths For Third Consecutive Day Fauci Responds To ‘Naughty’ Photo Critics In Nats Game MORE, the government’s leading infectious disease expert.
Lawmakers argue that Cheney’s response was antagonistic and led others to join in criticism of the third-ranking Republican leader.
The Hill spoke to 20 Republican House lawmakers about the internal conversation. Voices differ on what will come next, with some describing it as a momentary outbreak of bad blood and others saying it will be difficult for Cheney, who has been seen as a possible future Republican Party President, to move up to the conference.
“She did irreparable damage to her House career because of the way she handled that,” a senior Republican source told The Hill. “In all my years in Congress, it was the most intense since John Boehner
John Andrew BoehnerLott Says Lobbying the Company Cut Ties to Prevent He Was Taking Clients Lobbying the Company Cut Ties with Trent Lott Amid National Protests Against Racism Bush, Romney Won’t Support Trump’s Re-Election: NYT MORE days.”
Others rejected such arguments.
“Calculated political work at a conference meeting does not destroy a person’s career,” the representative. Patrick McHenry
Patrick Timothy McHenryHillicon Valley: Democrats Request Counterintelligence Information | New pressure for electoral financing | Republicans urge retaliation against Chinese hackers House Republicans urge Trump to take action against Chinese hackers targeting coronavirus investigation Supreme Court rulings reignite Trump’s supervisory wars in Congress MORE (RN.C.) said. “What happened at that conference was a representation of the mood of Republican members in general, that there is heartbreak.”
Still, members say the confrontation has broader meaning in terms of the 2020 presidential race and future leadership races, as the Republican Party worries about November. Trump is down in polls on suspected Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden
Joe Biden The Hill Campaign Report: Campaigns Prepare for Election Day Home Run Charlamagne tha God rips Biden: “Shut up forever” Hogan bets on republicanism with big criticism of Trump MOREAnd while they are not speaking publicly about it, Republicans are concerned that they may lose the Senate and White House this fall, as well as remain in the minority in the House.
Some Republican lawmakers saw Cheney’s growing criticism of the president as a sign that he is trying to distinguish himself from Trump and the minority leader. Kevin McCarthy
Kevin Owen McCarthyMcCarthy says Ocasio-Cortez should accept Yoho Trump’s apology blames Democrats after Republican Party rejects payroll tax cut The Hill’s 12:30 report (R-Calif.), Who, according to some, has become too attached to the President.
But Cheney has dismissed accusations that she doesn’t support the president enough and that her disagreements with his policies derail Republican courier efforts.
“It is no secret that I have some foreign policy differences with the president,” Cheney told The Hill on Thursday. “We have a variety of differences within our conference and I think that makes us strong. And I hope to make sure that we do everything we can to get the majority back. ”
Other lawmakers said Cheney has been clear in charting a path separate from Trump.
“Liz has decided to create her own path in an attempt to define the post-Trump Republican Party,” said one Republican lawmaker. “She believes McCarthy and Scalise become ‘lame duck’ leaders if we fail to secure the majority [and that they] could be expelled, “added the source, referring to House Minority Whip. Steve Scalise
Stephen (Steve) Joseph Scalise The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Trump-the-briefer struggles with the facts of COVID-19 House Votes to remove Confederate statues from Capitol Hill votes to repeal ban Trump’s travel MORE (R-La.)
Trump publicly criticized Cheney after Tuesday’s outbreak.
“Liz Cheney is only upset that I have been actively pulling our great and beautiful country out of ridiculous and costly Endless Wars,” Trump tweeted Thursday, referring to former Vice President Dick Cheney’s endorsement of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Afghanistan has been a major dispute between Trump and the Cheneys, along with other foreign policy issues.
Trump also retweeted Gaetz’s public call on Twitter to resign or be removed from leadership.
Following the Twitter attacks, McCarthy came to Cheney’s defense and told reporters that “there is no question” that Cheney should remain in the lead.
Some lawmakers say Cheney would face several problems if he ever challenged McCarthy.
These critics say that she rubs some members the wrong way, seemingly arrogant or entitled. McCarthy, by contrast, is happy and looking to win over the members with an offensive charm.
But sources close to Cheney deny that he has any plans to challenge McCarthy.
They observed how Cheney expressed his support for “making Kevin McCarthy the next Speaker of the House” in January, just as he announced to colleagues that he would not run for the Senate, and attributed these remarks as proof that he is not motivated to challenge McCarthy.
“Liz and Kevin are friends and they respect each other,” said a source close to Cheney. “Anyone who tries to pit them against each other is trying unfoundedly to stir the pot.”
Another elephant in the room is raising funds.
McCarthy is a prolific fundraiser for his colleagues, which could help him survive if November goes badly for Republicans.
Since 2019, McCarthy has given the Republican House of Representatives campaign arm more than $ 27 million in fundraising, followed by Scalise, who has transferred $ 9.37 million. Cheney has fallen behind, sending approximately $ 1.5 million to the Republican National Committee of Congress (NRCC).
A source close to Cheney, when pressured about the difference in these numbers, said that in addition to contributing to the NRCC, he focused his time and attention on hosting events and donating to individual campaigns.
Another great factor is gender.
Cheney is one of 13 women at the House GOP conference and is the highest-ranking woman in the Republican Party leadership. This makes it unlikely that she will be expelled from the leadership, despite Goetz’s remarks this week.
“No one has the courage to expel the only woman in leadership,” added another high-ranking Republican. “They are trying to cut off her legs and weaken her so she won’t go up.”
Multiple conservatives also say there is no active recruiting effort to find someone to challenge her during next year’s leadership careers. These voices say Cheney retains the support of a large part of the conference.
Some members were angered at what they saw as hypocrisy from the far-right flank who participated in the conference’s criticism, but who have also previously expressed opposition to the president’s policies or controversial comments.
They also rejected the idea that Cheney should somehow silence his opinion, saying that he is committed to his foreign policy beliefs and is not suddenly using them as part of a political scheme.
“We have always had this tension in our party, since the late 1940s, early 1950s, between a more isolationist vision and a more international vision,” said the representative. Mike Gallagher
Michael (Mike) John Gallagher The House-approved defense spending bill includes a provision establishing the White House cyber czar Congress supports the push by national cyber czar Hillicon Valley: Democrats are presenting a bill that prohibits the use of facial recognition technology by the federal government | House legislators implement legislation to establish national cyber director | Senior federal IT official to resign MORE (R-Wis.), Who came to Cheney’s defense.
Freedom Caucus has a reputation for being a thorn in the leadership side, particularly when they are in the majority. In 2015, they successfully expelled BoehnerJohn Andrew BoehnerLott Says Lobbying the Company Cut Ties to Prevent He Was Taking Clients Lobbying the Company Cut Ties with Trent Lott Amid National Protests Against Racism Bush, Romney Won’t Support Trump’s Re-Election: NYT MORE.
Some sources argued that time and political circumstances may close the gap, pointing to McCarthy’s best relationships with Freedom Caucus in the past two years.
“I don `t believe [moving up in leadership is unattainable]”A Republican lawmaker said.” Obviously you have to repair some of the damage done to certain members. “
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