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Republican Party Moves Forward On Officially Censuring Never Trump Reps. Cheney And Kinzinger

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The Republican National Committee is preparing to make an official statement censuring ‘Never Trump’ Reps. Liz Cheney (R-WY) and Adam Kinzinger (R-IL), who are both members on the Democrats’ January 6 committee.

While the move is a big step up, coming from the officially party, many are sure to be disappointed that it doesn’t go far enough. 

A committee of the RNC voted Thursday to censure Cheney, Kinzinger and their positions on the House Select Committee that was ostensibly investigating Jan. 6’s riot at Capitol. The vote didn’t go far enough to call for their expulsion from the House GOP Caucus.

Now, the measure will be sent to the entire Republican National Committee to receive its approval.

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‘Not About Being Anti-Trump’

While many in the media and the Democrat Party have been pushing a narrative that some sort of loyalty must be paid to Donald Trump in order to remain in good standing with the party, National RNC Committee member Harmeet Dhillon said of the censure,

“This is not about them being anti-Trump. There are plenty of other people in the party who are anti-Trump whose names don’t appear in the resolution. These two took specific action to defy party leadership.”

Part of the wording of the censure states the RNC will ‘immediately cease any and all support’ of Kinzinger and Cheney as members of the party and ‘those who deliberately jeopardize victory in November.’

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There are not enough strong statements to convince everyone 

On Friday, the entire RNC will vote on the censure resolution. It is most likely to pass. However, those who were leading the call for action against Cheney or Kinzinger desired a stronger statement. 

David Bossie (a Maryland RNC Committee member and also an advisor to Trump) and Frank Eathorne (Wyoming GOP Party Chair), had originally pushed for both their expulsions from the House GOP caucus. 

However, not everyone was onboard with the idea of censure and expulsion. The initial draft of the resolution was rejected by several RNC members who felt that the language was “too inflammatory.” 

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Cheney and Kinzinger Are On Their Way Out

RNC members are censuring is an unusual act. 

Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney were two of the ten Republicans that voted against Donald Trump’s impeachment. Cheney has several primary opponents in Wyoming. The Wyoming Republican Party, however, voted in November to discredit Cheney’s status as a Republican. 

Adam Kinzinger will be leaving Capitol Hill. Kinzinger will not run for reelection, as Illinois Democrats effectively redistricted his office, despite Kinzinger’s loyalty and fealty.

In response, Cheney called GOP leadership “willing hostages to Trump.” Kinzinger’s Deputy Chief of Staff Maura Gillespie stated in an email that for the RNC, “time would be better served by focusing on 2022 rather than an unprecedented and shortsighted effort to purge two lifelong Republicans for simply telling the truth and upholding their oaths of office.”

Ronna McDaniel (RNC Chair), is reported to have supported the resolution. Senator Mitt Romney (R.-UT), her uncle, tweeted the usual RINO response.