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

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. 

On Thursday, an RNC committee voted to censure Cheney and Kinzinger for their roles on the House Select Committee ostensibly investigating the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol. However, the vote did not go as far as calling for them to be expelled from the House GOP Caucus.

The measure will now go to the full Republican National Committee for 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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Not A Strong Enough Statement For Some 

The censure resolution will be voted on by the full RNC on Friday, and will most likely pass. But those leading the charge for some sort of action against Cheney and Kinzinger wanted a much stronger statement. 

David Bossie, a Maryland RNC committee member, and also a Trump campaign advisor, and Frank Eathorne, Wyoming GOP Party Chair, had initially pushed for a full expulsion from the House GOP caucus for both. 

But not all were on board with the whole idea of censure or 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 On The Way Out?

The RNC censuring its members is a fairly big deal, at least in its rarity. 

As two of ten Republicans who voted to impeach Donald Trump, life has not been good for Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger. In Wyoming, Cheney faces several primary challengers, and in November, the Wyoming Republican Party voted overwhelmingly to no longer recognize Cheney as a Republican. 

For Adam Kinzinger, life on Capitol Hill will come to an end. Kinzinger is not running for re-election because Illinois Democrats essentially redistricted him out of office, despite his loyalty and fealty to them.

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.”

RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel is said to support the resolution. Her uncle, Sen. Mitt Romney (R-UT) tweeted out the customary RINO response.