The gulf between the two main Republicans on Capitol Hill widened this week after the Senate minority leader Mitch McConnell
Addison (Mitch) Mitchell McConnellMcConnell says Taylor Greene’s adoption of conspiracy theories is a ‘cancer’ for the Republican Party, country Night defense: Biden warns of sanctions after coup in Myanmar | Biden asks Supreme Court to cancel arguments over border wall | Dem calls for troop screening on social media. Senate Democrats say consideration of cannabis-related reforms will be a priority. MORE (R-Ky.) He took the unusual step of plunging into a couple of controversies that the House minority leader Kevin McCarthy
Kevin McCarthyMcConnell says Taylor Greene’s adoption of conspiracy theories is “cancer” for the Republican Party, as the country’s Democrats are moving quickly to remove Greene from the committees. The mother of the Parkland victim asked Rep. Greene to stop saying the shootings were fake MORE (R-Calif.) It is struggling to contain in the lower chamber.
Within the space of an hour, McConnell issued two separate statements, one condemning Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) Conspiracy theories, a follower of the pro-Trump QAnon movement; the other praising Rep. Liz Cheney
Elizabeth (Liz) Lynn CheneyMcConnell says Taylor Greene’s adoption of conspiracy theories is ‘cancer’ for the Republican Party The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Republicans pressure Biden with 0 billion COVID-19 relief alternative This week : Biden, Democrats face turning point in relieving coronavirus MORE (R-Wyo.) While she faces the reaction of the former President Trump
Donald TrumpGraham rejects Merrick Garland’s request for confirmation at Trump’s attorney’s hearing on February 8 to make the First Amendment case at the impeachment trial Biden faces a crossroads in the virus relief bill MORE legalists after his vote to impeach the 45th president.
This dynamic has created a rare and growing divide between top Republican leaders in the chambers, at the very moment when Republicans are trying to unite against the new Democratic president’s ambitious legislative agenda, Joe Biden
Joe BidenOvernight Health Care: White House awards 0 million to increase home test | Schumer promises that the Senate will accept a ‘bold’ coronavirus project. Biden officials defend a two-dose strategy amid fears of variants. If the Republican Party blocks Biden’s COVID rescue plan, America’s poor workers will suffer..
The Greene and Cheney issues created migraines for McCarthy, a close ally of Trump trapped between House Republicans who still defend the former president after the January 6 attack on the United States Capitol and those who warn that only a break with the mercurial Trump will save the Republican Party from devouring itself.
McConnell’s extraordinary decision to enter these debates – and so aggressively – not only puts him directly in the last field, but also puts enormous pressure on McCarthy to join him. And McConnell is not alone; other Republican Senate voices are also trying to shift the party’s focus from its most marginal elements, represented by Greene, and back to the institutionalist mentality personified by Cheney.
“I think we should make it very clear that [Greene] it does not represent us in any way. Our big tent is not big enough to accommodate both conservatives and crazy people ”, Sen. Mitt Romney
Willard (Mitt) Mitt RomneyIf the GOP blocks Biden’s COVID rescue plan, America’s poor workers will suffer The Hill’s 12:30 Report: Biden tests the GOP’s negotiating skills at today’s COVID relief meeting GOP Senators reveal proposal for 8 billion coronaviruses before Biden meeting MORE (Utah), the GOP flagship in 2012, told reporters on Tuesday.
“House Republicans are going to have to decide who they want to be. Do they want to be part of limited government, fiscal responsibility and free markets, and peace through force and pro-life, or do they want to be part of conspiracy and QAnon theories? ”Added Senate GOP Whip John Thune
John Randolph ThuneDemocrats will expand their majority in the Senate in 2022 Trump’s censorship faces tough odds in Senate Republicans now “shocked, shocked” because there is a deficit MORE (SD). “It’s a big distraction, I think, for them now, and not in a good way.”
The McConnell-McCarthy division also reflects the widely different political interests and power structures underlying the House, where more than half of Republicans voted to overturn election results based on Trump’s false allegations of widespread fraud, and in the Senate, where the number was the single digits.
McCarthy himself embraced Trump’s false claims that the election was stolen, while McConnell did the opposite, warning just minutes before the January 6 uprising that the United States would enter a “death spiral” if the elections could be reversed for mere allegations by the losing party.
McConnell is unlikely to vote to condemn Trump, who faces his second impeachment trial next week; most Senate Republicans view the accusation of a former president as unconstitutional and support Trump, and McConnell can read the tea leaves.
But if McConnell is ready to turn the page on Trump, McCarthy doesn’t have the same luxury. In fact, the House leader dismissed criticism that Trump is responsible for the attack on the Capitol and, last week, visited the former President in Florida, where he sought Trump’s help while Republicans vied for the House’s recapture in 2022 .
McConnell, who has a reputation as an astute political strategist, also believes he is about to win back the Senate majority next year, given the current 50/50 split. But he made a political calculation different from McCarthy’s: that Trump, Greene and their QAnon acolytes are very toxic and could seriously harm the GOP’s return in 2022.
“Politically, the Trump era has not been good for Republicans – we have lost the House, we have lost the White House and we have lost the Senate,” said a senior Republican Party source. “Democrats, fairly or unfairly, will label Republicans as the QAnon party and that is something that our members in difficult seats will have to face. That would be devastating. “
McConnell on Tuesday denied any friction between him and McCarthy, saying he had a “good working relationship” with his Republican counterpart in the House. But McConnell’s scathing and unsolicited comments about Greene the night before complicated the situation for McCarthy, who was already facing enormous pressure from Democrats and some prominent Republicans to deprive her of her two committee assignments. McCarthy is due to sit down with Greene this week.
“Idiotic lies and conspiracy theories are cancer for the Republican Party and our country,” said McConnell in a statement released on Monday for the first time with The Hill. “Someone who suggested that perhaps no aircraft hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrific school shootings were pre-staged and that the Clintons shot down JFK Jr.’s plane is not really living.”
In addition to these conspiracy theories, Greene also supported Facebook posts asking for Speaker to be executed Nancy Pelosi
Nancy PelosiBiden, Republican Party senators agree to more conversations at COVID-19 after “excellent” first meeting McConnell says Taylor Greene’s adoption of conspiracy theories is “cancer” for the Republican Party, country On The Money: Schumer promises that the Senate will accept the “bold” coronavirus bill, rejecting the GOP offer | Republican senators, Biden send positive vibes after a long meeting with WH MORE (D-Calif.), Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton
Hillary Diane Rodham ClintonTim Ryan plans to run for an Ohio Senate seat until March: NYT Hillary Clinton asks Tim Ryan to run for an Ohio Senate seat Portman says the Republican leadership ‘must stand up’ against Greene’s comments MORE and former President Obama; and subscribed to another false and bizarre theory that the 2018 forest fires in the home state of McCarthy, California, were caused by a space laser controlled by a powerful Jewish family with plans to clear the land.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday afternoon, McConnell dialed again and seemed reluctant to give Greene a shot in front of the TV cameras.
“I spoke yesterday about that new member of the House in particular,” said McConnell, refusing yet again to refer to the first-term arsonist by name. “And I think I spoke adequately about how I feel about any effort to define the Republican Party in this way. I think that covers my opinion on that very well. ”
Still, the divergent approaches represent a snapshot of the torturous internal debate that plagues Republicans as they clash over party leadership in a world where Trump has lost his office and his Twitter account, but remains hugely popular with the Republican Party base. . This popularity is especially rooted in the districts of the House, which are home to its most loyal followers on Capitol Hill, including Reps. Jim Jordan
James (Jim) Daniel JordanDemocrats will expand their majority in the Senate in 2022 The Hill’s Morning Report – Presented by Facebook – Which path will Democrats follow in the COVID-19 bill? Jim Jordan says he will not run for Senate in PLUS 2022 (R-Ohio), Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.) And Jim Banks (R-Ind.), Who occupy prominent positions of power within the ranks of the Republican Party.
Even Rep. Tom Cole
Thomas (Tom) Jeffrey ColeCheney tests Trump’s control over the post-presidential GOP Republican Party legislator gives up honorary university diploma after Electoral College vote LIVE COVERAGE: House vote to impeach Trump after the Capitol insurrection MORE (R-Okla.) – an institutionalist, a former member of the leadership and a powerful appropriator who represents a dark red district of Trump – voted against the certification of the Electoral College on January 6. He said it was what his constituents wanted.
“I have been studying this issue closely and listening carefully to what my constituents have to say,” said Cole at the time. “The voters I represent are not concerned with the fairness of the Oklahoma elections. However, they are concerned with justice and transparency in other states. “
McCarthy faces an early test on Wednesday, when House Republicans will meet behind closed doors and Cheney’s future is expected to be a topic of the day. McCarthy hesitated on the issue, saying he supports Cheney while expressing “concerns” about his impeachment vote.
As McCarthy ponders his strategy for dealing with the clamor for Cheney, the highest-ranking Republican woman in Congress, McConnell is making his position clear – and making McCarthy’s life more difficult in the process.
“Liz Cheney is a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them,” McConnell said in a statement to CNN. “She is an important leader in our party and in our nation. I am grateful for her service and look forward to continuing to work with her on the crucial issues facing our nation. “