House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) is facing increased pressure from conservative organizations and other entities outside of Congress to remove two members from the GOP over their frequent criticisms of former President Donald Trump, as well as clashes with other members, according to the Daily Caller.
The demand was made in a joint letter sent to McCarthy by a number of prominent conservative activists, issued under the banner of the Conservative Action Project. Among the letter’s signatories are: David McIntosh, president of the Club for Growth; Matt Schlapp, head of the American Conservative Union and the lead organizer of the annual Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC); and former Senator Jim DeMint (R-S.C.), former President of the Heritage Foundation and currently the head of the Conservative Partnership Institute.
The letter targets Congresswoman Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) and Congressman Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.). In addition to being two of the only ten Republican members of the House of Representatives who voted in favor of President Trump’s second impeachment, they are the only Republicans currently serving on Nancy Pelosi’s special committee investigating the events of January 6th.
“As part of Pelosi’s team,” the letter reads, “Reps. Cheney and Kinzinger have deliberately sought to undermine the privacy and due process of their fellow Republicans, and those of private citizens, with improperly issued subpoenas and other investigatory tactics designed not to pursue any valid legislative end, but merely to exploit for the sake of political harassment and demagoguery.”
The committee, part of the Democratic Party’s efforts to falsely label the peaceful protest at the United States Capitol on January 6th as an “insurrection,” is further described in the letter as an “overtly partisan political persecution” which “demeans the standing of the House.” The committee has primarily resorted to issuing subpoenas of former Trump Administration officials, issuing dozens of such demands for cooperation, including handing over private communications, such as emails and text messages, that were made on January 6th.
Most recently, the committee’s efforts have led to the House’s Democrat majority to vote to hold former Chief Strategist and Senior Counselor Steve Bannon and former Chief of Staff Mark Meadows in contempt of Congress for refusing to work with the committee. But committee members and other congressional Democrats have resorted to openly fabricating evidence, with Congressman Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) doctoring text messages between Meadows and Congressman Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), in order to fit their preferred narrative of an attempted “insurrection.”
Cheney and Kinzinger are the only two Republicans on the committee after McCarthy withdrew all of his nominees to serve as the Republican minority. Pelosi refused to seat two of his original recommendations, Jordan and Congressman Jim Banks (R-Ind.). In response, McCarthy refused to seat any Republicans, so Pelosi unilaterally appointed Cheney and Kinzinger.
In addition to criticism of former President Trump, Cheney and Kinzinger have even taken action against some of their more conservative colleagues. Earlier this year, Kinzinger was one of 11 House Republicans to vote with the Democrats to unilaterally remove Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.) from all of her committee assignments. Last month, Cheney and Kinzinger were the only two Republicans to vote with the Democrats on a similar resolution removing Congressman Paul Gosar (R-Ariz.) from his committees, after he posted an anime meme video on Twitter depicting the threat of mass immigration to the United States.
Following broader outrage from the GOP’s base, McCarthy ultimately had Cheney removed from her position as Chair of the House Republican Caucus, the third senior-most position in the House GOP leadership, and replaced her with Congresswoman Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.). Separately, Kinzinger has already announced that he has no plans to run for re-election next year. Cheney, who is planning to run for a fourth term, is currently facing five challengers; her biggest opponent is former Republican National Committee member Harriet Hageman, who has been endorsed by President Trump.