RNC Moves Closer to Censuring Reps. Cheney, Kinzinger

As members of the Republican National Committee (RNC) gathered Thursday in meetings closed to reporters, the most-discussed — and by far the most controversial — item of business at their winter meeting was a resolution to censure Reps. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., and Adam Kinzinger, R-Ill.

Initially crafted by Maryland's Republican National Committeeman Dave Bossie, the resolution specifically condemns the two House members for cooperating with the Democrats on the Jan. 6 Select Committee and abandoning party principles.

RNC sources told Newsmax the initial measure called for Cheney and Kinzinger to be expelled from the House Republican Conference, but it was toned down to a simple censure resolution.

The measure would be voted on by the Resolutions Committee on Thursday and then debated and voted on by the full RNC at its session Friday.

Cheney and Kinzinger were among the 10 House Republicans who voted to censure President Trump last year. Kinzinger has already announced his retirement from Congress, while Cheney faces a strong challenge for renomination in Wyoming's GOP primary this August.

"I'm all for it," Wyoming's National Committeewoman Nina Webber said of the censure motion. "Liz Cheney has done this to herself by not responding to her constituents. She left us all, along with Republican values, out in the dirt."

Webber also pointed out Cheney has already been censured by Republican committees in 19 counties throughout the Cowboy State.

"This is about our party," California Republican National Committeewoman Harmeet Dhillon, a co-sponsor of the censure resolution, told Newsmax. "[House Republican Leader] Kevin McCarthy offered appointments to the Jan. 6 commission, and they were rejected by [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi.

"Cheney and Kinzinger bucked the Republican leadership and accepted positions on the Democrat commission."

In so doing, added Dhillon, "they violated House decorum."

Dhillon's view was echoed by Colorado Republican National Committeeman Randy Corporon.

"Cheney and Kinzinger are not supporting Republican values like due process for the Jan. 6 participants and working with the Democratic majority on the committee," Corporon said.

There were other opinions on the censure motion among the 169-member RNC.

One committee member who requested anonymity voiced discomfort with censuring Republicans who take actions or say things most fellow party members agree on.

"[Former Iowa Rep] Steve King said things that were perceived widely as racist, but no one moved to censure him," the source said.

One who did put his name on his criticism of the motion was Illinois GOP Chair Don Tracy.

"We're supposed to grow the church, and we don't do it by going around excommunicating people," Tracy said. "We're a big-tent party, and I don't see what purpose censure serves. If Adam Kinzinger is out of line with the Republican Party, he should be censured by primary voters and not subcommittee resolutions by the RNC."

John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.