On Tuesday, the Republican National Committee resolved to censure Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Rep. Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill., and “to no longer support them as members of the Republican Party.”
Later that day, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., emerged from the Senate Republicans’ weekly lunch, and he had something to say.
“That’s not the job of the R.N.C.,” he told reporters — a direct challenge to many of former President Donald Trump’s supporters.
One reporter asked McConnell, “Is it appropriate for the Republican National Committee to censure two sitting members of Congress?”
Trump has repeatedly urged Republicans to oust Cheney and his challengers.
McConnell responded, “With regard to the suggestion that the R.N.C. should be in the business of picking and choosing Republicans who ought to be supported, traditionally, the view of the national party committees is that we support all members of our party, regardless of their positions on some issues.”
Traditionally, the R.N.C. plans election strategies, raises money for candidates, and releases a party platform — like its counterpart, the Democratic National Committee.
However, both the committees have lost some of their influence in the last decade. In recent elections, they’ve been outspent by some nonprofit networks, according to financial records reviewed by The New York Times last month.
Plus, the R.N.C. has been deviating from tradition lately. For example, the R.N.C. did not release a platform during the 2020 election, but the D.N.C. did.
In this instance, McConnell accused the R.N.C. of overreach, but still expressed respect for R.N.C. Chair Ronna McDaniel.
“The issue is whether or not the R.N.C. should be sort of singling out members of our party who may have different views from the majority,” he said.
In reality, the committee took issue not with Cheney’s views, but with her position on the House Jan. 6 Committee. After all, the committee declined to censure Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine., despite her vote to remove Trump.
In its own words, the R.N.C. said in a two-page resolution,
Representatives Cheney and Kinzinger are participating in a Democrat-led persecution…
Therefore be it resolved that The Republican National Committee hereby formally censures Representatives Liz Cheney of Wyoming and Adam Kinzinger of Illinois and shall immediately cease any and all support of them as members of the Republican Party for their behavior which has been destructive to the institution of the U.S. House of Representatives , the Republican Party and our republic, and is inconsistent with the position of the Conference.
The national committee has yet to clarify the meaning of the word “support.” It could be referring to either financial support or strategic support. In any case, the committee only censured Cheney and Kinziger. It gave them a slap on the wrist, rather than expelling them.
McConnell says he prefers to run against President Joe Biden’s record rather than relitigate the Jan. 6 riot.
On Tuesday, House Republicans started a news conference by discussing Biden’s inaction during our nation’s fentanyl crisis, but they fielded questions about the resolution for much of the conference.
The R.N.C. itself said in the resolution:
The Biden Administration and Democrats in Congress have embarked on a systematic effort to replace liberty with socialism; eliminate border security in favor of lawless;… neuter our national defense and a peace through strength foreign policy; replace President Trump’s ‘Operation Warp Speed’ with incompetence and illegal mandates; and destroy America’s economy the Green New Deal.
McConnell has earned a reputation for emphasizing the party’s electoral prospects. He was reelected as senator in 2020 for another six-year term. By the end of his current term, he will be nearing his 85th birthday.
The Horn editorial team