There's a Trump-sized hole at the center of GOP leadership as Cheney and Greene decisions hit

Former President Donald Trump’s departure from the White House after a single term has triggered a heated debate over the direction of the Republican Party, with the governing class that never fully made peace with him frequently at odds with the MAGA-centric base.

Rep. Liz Cheney, a Wyoming Republican, beat back an attempt to oust her as chairwoman of the House Republican Conference for being one of 10 GOP members of the chamber to vote for Trump's impeachment. It was a stunning turn of events that the daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, a mainstay of the party, even found herself in this position. On Thursday, the House is set to vote on stripping Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene of her committee assignments, mainly for her advocacy of Trump-era conspiracy theories.

Trump’s second Senate trial in as many years also looms, this time with lawmakers deliberating whether he incited an insurrection at the Capitol on Jan. 6 — and whether this process for removal from office constitutionally applies to a president whose term has already expired.

Rank-and-file Republicans are looking for direction, as the former president’s exit from Washington has left a Trump-sized party leadership void in his wake.

“Sometimes, these family fights are necessary, and we hope they’re short-term,” said Rep. Ted Budd, a North Carolina Republican. “I believe that the Republican Party has an agenda that works, but we can’t go back to the old-style GOP that only catered to elites. President Trump brought so many new working-class voters into our party, and we need to go forward with that in mind.”

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, has gently tried to nudge the party in a post-Trump direction. He took strong exception to Trump’s claims that the 2020 presidential election was stolen and said that the riot at the Capitol was fed by the then-president’s “lies.” McConnell castigated Greene as a “cancer” on the party and publicly defended Cheney. But he voted with 44 other Republican senators in favor of a point of order finding Trump’s post-presidential Senate trial unconstitutional.