McCarthy moves to keep splintering GOP intact, with protection for both Cheney and Greene

The top House Republican leader moved Wednesday to keep his splintering party intact — declining to take concrete action against a freshman lawmaker whose extremist rhetoric prompted widespread outrage, while also moving to protect a senior party leader who faced calls for her ouster after backing Donald Trump’s impeachment.

The moves from Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) reflected the delicate path the GOP is blazing through the post-Trump political landscape as it seeks to regain power in Washington.

On one hand, the party needs to regain its appeal with traditional Republicans — a wing of the party exemplified by Rep. Liz Cheney (Wyo.), the No. 3 House GOP leader and daughter of a former vice president who trashed Trump’s conduct surrounding the Jan. 6 Capitol riot. After McCarthy argued strongly on Cheney’s behalf in a private meeting Wednesday evening, Republicans voted 145 to 61 to reject a call for her resignation backed by Trump loyalists.

On the other hand, the GOP risks losing the support of Trump’s most fervent supporters, many of whom increasingly subscribe to outlandish, baseless claims — such as those espoused by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene (R-Ga.), who is facing a Democratic-led vote Thursday on whether to expel her from committee assignments.

While McCarthy on Wednesday condemned Greene’s comments questioning the veracity of school shootings, encouraging political violence and promulgating anti-Semitic falsehoods, he said he would not bow to demands that she be removed from her committees. Instead, he accused Democrats of pursuing a “partisan power grab” by seeking to control the minority party’s internal decision-making.