House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy will support Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney remaining in her leadership position and will not remove Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene from her committee assignments.
After meetings and continued calls for Cheney to be removed from her leadership position in the House, for voting to impeach former President Donald Trump, McCarthy decided Wednesday afternoon that he wants her to stay in her position as House Republican Conference Chair and that he will not ask Greene to step down from her committee assignments, Punchbowl News first reported.
Greene has continued to claim that Trump won the Nov. 3 presidential election and has been linked to a number of conspiracy theories, including QAnon related conspiracies. House Democrats will now likely force a vote on Thursday that would strip Greene from her committee assignments.
“Past comments from and endorsed by Marjorie Taylor Greene on school shootings, political violence, and anti-Semitic conspiracy theories do not represent the values or beliefs of the House Republican Conference. I condemn those comments unequivocally. I condemned them in the past. I continue to condemn them today. This House condemned QAnon last Congress and continues to do so today,” McCarthy said in a statement released Wednesday afternoon.
“In the end, this resolution continues to distract Congress, especially given the limited time that Speaker Pelosi and the Democrat leadership want the House to debate and work, on what it needs to focus on: getting Americans back to work, getting kids back to school, and providing vaccines to all Americans who need it,” the statement concluded.
The House Freedom Caucus Chief, Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, called for Cheney to resign from GOP leadership in January after Cheney announced her support for Trump’s impeachment. The House vote Jan. 13 was 232-197 with 10 Republicans, including Cheney, voting to impeach Trump.
Other Republicans, such as Florida Rep. Matt Gaetz, have been vocal opponents of Cheney. Gaetz flew Thursday to Wyoming to campaign against Cheney and spoke at Wyoming’s Capitol building in Cheyenne. Gaetz accused her of profiting off war in the Middle East and called her a “fake cowgirl.” (RELATED: Rep. Gaetz In Wyoming: ‘It’s The Establishment Against The Rest Of Us’)
Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) speaks during a news conference with fellow House Republicans outside the U.S. Capitol December 10, 2020 in Washington, DC. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)
Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell also defended Cheney, saying Monday that she is “a leader with deep convictions and the courage to act on them,” 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.”
Meanwhile, McConnell has slammed Greene, saying: “Somebody who’s suggested that perhaps no airplane hit the Pentagon on 9/11, that horrifying school shootings were pre-staged, and that the Clintons crashed JFK Jr.’s airplane is not living in reality,” McConnell said in a statement. “This has nothing to do with the challenges facing American families or the robust debates on substance that can strengthen our party.”
McCarthy had previously defended Cheney, but did say he has “concerns” in an interview on Gray TV’s “Full Court Press with Greta Van Susteren.”
“Look, I support her, but I also have concerns,” McCarthy said.
Democrats will now vote to remove Greene from her committee assignments Thursday.