2 recent GOP votes show the party is more invested in censuring members who break with party line than addressing extremism and violence within its own ranks
- Eleven House Republicans voted to effectively punish Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene for endorsing political violence.
- Six times as many voted to strip Rep. Liz Cheney's leadership position for supporting Trump's impeachment.
- With both lawmakers facing scrutiny, the votes highlight an ongoing division within the party.
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Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene was stripped of her committee assignments Thursday after 11 House Republicans joined Democrats and voted in favor of the resolution, following reports detailing her expressing support for political violence.
A day earlier, six times as many House Republicans voted to remove Rep. Liz Cheney from her leadership position over her support of Donald Trump's impeachment. (Cheney still kept her post.)
With both Republican representatives facing scrutiny for very different actions, the votes highlighted an ongoing division within the party between moderate Republicans and the ones who align more closely with Trump.
Greene, a staunch Trump loyalist, drew criticism recently as reports emerged of her appearing to support violence against Democrats and other political opponents as well as apparent adherence to conspiracy theories.
In 2018, the Georgia lawmaker expressed support on her Facebook page for assassinating top Democrats, including Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, CNN reported.
In 2019, she liked a Facebook comment saying House Speaker Nancy Pelosi should get a "bullet to the head," according to CNN.
And in a video that recently resurfaced, Greene can be seen harassing a survivor of the Parkland school shooting, which she has also called a false-flag operation.
In response to the reports - and after GOP House leadership declined to punish the freshman lawmaker - the House of Representatives held the vote to remove Greene from her two committee assignments, with Democrats condemning the reports and her support of right-wing conspiracy theories.
While 11 Republicans joined the Democrats, others who did not vote in favor of her removal criticized the move as an attempt to "cancel" a member of the GOP.
In a 233-199 vote, Greene lost her seats on the Education and Labor Committee and the Budget Committee.
Read more: Trump is plotting a campaign revenge tour targeting GOP defectors after Senate impeachment trial
Cheney, the third-highest ranking Republican in the House, did not vote to remove Greene.
On Wednesday, the Wyoming lawmaker faced a vote of her own over whether she should keep her leadership position in the caucus.
Cheney has been criticized by members of her party for voting in favor of impeaching Trump, following the Capitol insurrection. In total, ten Republicans voted in favor, making it the most bipartisan impeachment in US history. Following her vote, there were calls from some within the GOP for her to step down, prompting the vote on her role in the caucus.
In the Wednesday vote, Cheney held onto her position, with 145 Republicans voting for her to remain and 61 voting for her removal, according to Politico.
Experts have said the GOP is in a "no-win situation" as it struggles to hold together its base of traditional Republicans and Trump supporters, Insider previously reported.
Contributer : Business Insider https://ift.tt/39NgxlW
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