“There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States of office and his oath to the Constitution,” said Liz Cheney, Republican Representative to Wyoming, last month, when he joined nine of his party’s colleagues to to vote in favor. . of Donald Trump’s “ charge ” for his responsibility in the violent attack on the Capitol, which left five dead on Jan. 6.
Before that vote, Cheney found herself at the center of a storm within the party, criticized by conservatives loyal to Trump who believe her vote was the true ‘treason’ and therefore want her out of her position within the leadership of the Republican minority.
Cheney will find out this week if denouncing the then president will cost him his position as number 3 in the bank.
A group of lawmakers will try to vote on a proposal in this regard for their first meeting of the year next Wednesday. The motion must be supported by two-thirds to vote unless authorized by Caucus Leader Kevin McCarthy.
Meanwhile, Senate Republican minority leader Mitch McConnell took the unusual initiative on Monday to go into the affairs of the other House of Congress to defend Cheney.
“Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act,” McConnell said in a statement to CNN. “She is an important leader in our party and in our nation. I am grateful to her for her service and look forward to working with her on the crucial issues facing our nation.”
It is possible that McConnell’s defense will not change the position of Cheney’s critics (it could even aggravate the spirits of those who see him as meddling in their affairs), but it is symbolic of the struggle within the so-called Great Old Party ( GOP) among the more traditional conservatives and the new class that grew up with Trump in power.
One of the latter, a great Trump ally, Florida Representative Matt Gaetz, traveled to the district Cheney represents in Wyoming last week to personally participate in an event against his colleague (and several).
The other case: Marjorie Taylor Greene
Republicans will also weigh whether to impose punishments on Marjorie Taylor Greene, a Trump ally who, according to recent reports, said the shootings in Las Vegas and Parkland, Florida, were orchestrated.
And he also backed a dangerous conspiracy theory of child abuse on Facebook and supported the execution of former President Barack Obama and other prominent Democrats online.
The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Democrat Nancy Pelosi, last week criticized her Republican colleagues for not doing more to reprimand the representative for her extremist rhetoric and statements made before she became a congressman.
“The discredited campaign launched against me by the fake information media and the Democratic crowd is simply a continuation of the madness syndrome caused by Trump,” Greene wrote on Twitter.
The GOP’s decisions on Cheney and Greene promise – if they do – the party’s course in the post-Trump era.
The Republican caucus will hold its meeting days before the Senate begins the trial of Trump for “ inciting insurrection. ”
While it seemed feasible right after the attack on Capitol Hill that Trump’s political future could end soon, numerous lawmakers have preferred to continue to support him to avoid rejection by the base the former president still ardently supports.
