Liz Cheney responds to proposed RNC resolution to censure her & Kinzinger:
“If the price of being willing to tell the truth and get to the bottom of what happened on January 6.. is a censure, then I am absolutely going to continue to stand up for what I know is right.”
A total of 41 Republicans just voted AGAINST Marjorie Taylor Greene’s motion to adjourn — a number that has doubled since last week, as patience in the GOP wears thin with her floor gambits.
Rep. Paul Gosar’s brother on CNN just now: “On behalf of the actual sane members of our family, which is everyone but Paul, we apologize … for his despicable comments and disgraceful comments.”
SCOOP: The mother of fallen Capitol Police officer Brian Sicknick is requesting meetings with every single GOP senator to push them to support a proposed Jan. 6 commission.
the latest >>
Things getting HEATED at House GOP conference meeting right now.
Matt Gaetz & Thomas Massie both got on the mics and went after Liz Cheney for backing Massie’s primary opponent, per source in the room.
Cheney did not back down from confrontation:
She defended Fauci.
She told Gaetz I look forward to seeing ur HBO doc.
She told Massie his issue is w/ Trump, not her.
She told Jordan I look forward to hearing ur comments about being a team player when we’re back in the majority
Things getting heated in House GOP meeting.
McCarthy swore in his speech, dropping a “god damnit.” And he made clear he would negotiate no more. McCarthy also said opponents came to him with “personal asks” last night.
Lauren boebert yelled in response to speech: “BULL SHIT”
NEWS: Some of Jim Jordan's opponents tell me they've been purposely staggering their "no" votes over multiple ballots -- a strategy designed to show Jordan's speakership opposition is only growing.
And that's why they tell me Jordan will bleed even more support on a third ballot
Update: I'm hearing as many as 10 House Republicans are very seriously considering supporting impeachment — and GOP Conference Chair Liz Cheney is said to be one of them, per multiples sources.
Dems also working them hard. BUT no final decisions have been made & things fluid.
.
@Liz_Cheney
is hitting back at
@tedcruz
after he went on Fox News last night & accused her of “Trump Derangement Syndrome,” saying she was “broke” by Trump.
“Trump broke Ted Cruz,” Cheney told me. “A real man would be defending his wife, and his father, and the Constitution.”
NEW: GOP tensions flaring over MTG's committee hearing outburst today.
Source close to Chairman Mark Green said he was furious w/ MTG's behavior and planned to privately reprimand her, and also said he'd encourage McCarthy to remove her from the committee if she did that again.
NEW: Frustration in the GOP over 1st impeachment hearing, as the GOP witnesses undercut their narrative &say no evidence of crimes.
“Picking witnesses that refute House Republicans arguments for impeachment is mind blowing. This is an unmitigated disaster," said senior R aide.
It's becoming increasingly clear that Jan. 6 was minutes, if not seconds, away from becoming a bloodbath inside the United States Capitol.
We're just lucky the rioters didn't know what they were doing — and that there were some fast-thinking cops on the scene.
NEWS: McCarthy says he told Madison Cawthorn during a meeting today that the freshman has lost his trust and he needs to take steps to turn his life around, or else there could be consequences.
Also says Cawthorn admitted his orgy & cocaine allegations were exaggerated/untrue.
JUST IN: Liz Cheney has managed to cling on to her leadership job, sources tell me. vote was 145-61
House just voted in a secret ballot to keep her. Comes after tense, four hour meeting where dozens of members spoke their mind.
NEW: Liz Cheney tells me she'd support both censuring Gosar AND stripping him of committees.
She also said McCarthy’s inaction on Gosar — especially as Rs call to punish GOPers who supported infrastructure — is "indefensible, morally and ethically, and it's crazy politically.”
Rep. Liz Cheney, who voted to impeach Donald Trump, raised $1.5 million for her re-election campaign during the first three months of this year — a new record for her political career, per her office.
THINGS not going so great in GOP conference, which turned heated, I’m told.
At one point, Gaetz was told to sit down by McCarthy and refused, then Rep. Bost “got all emotional” and “was cussing at him” and “telling him it’s all his fault,” one member said.
CONFIRMED: Democratic Rep. Jeff Van Drew has informed staff he is SWITCHING PARTIES and will become a Republican, following a lengthy meeting w/ Trump.
And senior Dems have been scrambling to reach him all day.
story w/
@heatherscope
:
Confirming this very, very sad news: Rep.-elect Luke Letlow has died of coronavirus.
He was 41 and had a wife & 2 small children. Was just days away from being sworn into Congress. Absolutely devastating.
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy said it's “disgusting” that Dems are pushing to include money for mail-in voting in the next coronavirus relief bill, dismissing the idea as unnecessary despite the pandemic.
the story >>
NEW: GOP Rep. Derrick Van Orden slammed the House Freedom Caucus’s blockade of the floor in a heated, expletive-laden speech during a closed-door meeting this morning, per sources.
Orden said his daughter is dying of cancer and yet he still “shows up to work every f*cking day.”
NEWS: Sources say Marjorie Taylor Greene was planning to ask for roll call votes on 13 suspension bills that were supposed to get a quick vote today — including some w/ GOP co-sponsors.
But Dems caught wind of it & are now rescheduling the votes, which would’ve taken all night.
Speaking at the Reagan Institute,
@RepLizCheney
says it's important to "ignore the temptation to look away" after Jan. 6" and "make clear we aren't the party of white supremacy."
She also slammed Trump for spreading lies about the election, saying public needs to know the truth.
Staffers for Kevin McCarthy who were on the floor on Jan 6 and in his 1st floor office were “terrified” that day & days after, per GOP source w/ direct knowledge.
The select committee showed footage tonight of McCarthy staffers fleeing his office as the mob stormed the Capitol.
Rep. Tom Rice of South Carolina, one of 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach Trump, told me that the RNC censure resolution didn’t come up in conference meeting today — likely because a lot of people were “embarrassed” by it.
“It was pretty damn embarrassing,” he said.
Rep. Mo Brooks told me he had "no involvement” in planning the Jan 6 rally but said:
“I don’t know if my staff did.. but if they did I’d be proud of them for helping to put together a rally lawful under the First Amendment at the ellipse to protest voter fraud & election theft."
Adam Schiff may have mischaracterized a piece of the Lev Parnas evidence from last week, according to unredacted documents obtained by
@politico
... The story >>
Some Jordan holdouts are refusing to meet with Jordan or take his calls, sources tell me — a sign of the uphill climb Jordan faces in winning 217.
Meanwhile, one of the Rs who voted against Jordan had to have a sheriff stationed at their daughter’s school because of threats.
NEW:
@RepLizCheney
responds to the calls for her to resign from leadership:
"I'm not going anywhere," she tells me in the Capitol. "This is a vote of conscience. It's one where there are different views in our conference." (1/2)
The Wyoming GOP sends a "message" to Cheney & shares some of the "outcry" they've received about her impeachment vote:
"We are receiving the message loud and clear that what happened yesterday is a true travesty for Wyoming and the country."
It sounds like this conference meeting — the first in-person GOP meeting in months — is turning into a full blown Freedom Caucus venting session/pile on.
And a NEW statement from Gladys Sicknick: “Not having a January 6 Commission to look into exactly what occurred is a slap in the faces of all the officers who did their jobs that day... Putting politics aside, wouldn’t they want to know the truth of what happened on January 6?"
Retiring GOP Rep. Francis Rooney, when pressed by
@jimsciutto
on whether Biden or Trump would better handle coronavirus, says:
"I don't think there's any doubt that Vice President Biden has the right approach. And there's a lot of Republicans that would agree with that as well."
MORE NEWS from GOP meeting: Rep. Chip Roy and McCarthy got into a heated exchange, per source.
Roy lamented that he has to now go back to his district and explain why people should bother voting Republican when they handed a victory to Dems, and argued leadership should act.
Rep. Mike Lawler tells us if the House GOP doesn’t pass a short-term spending bill — which looks likely at this point — he will sign a discharge petition and join forces with Dems to try to pass one.
NEWS: The GOP Steering Committee has selected JIM JORDAN — a top Trump ally who is fresh off assisting w/ the president’s impeachment defense — to be top Republican on the powerful House Judiciary Committee, per sources.
Gosar’s other brother calls for a full investigation into whether criminal charges are warranted for ppl who were “masterminds” behind Jan. 6 rally.
“If what it looks like Paul has done, and Brooks has done, and Biggs has done … then there should be accountability.”
NEWS: Donald Trump has been calling up key allies on Capitol Hill tonight to shore up support in the wake of his indictment, including members of House GOP leadership and lawmakers who serve on committees that are trying to investigate the Manhattan DA, per sources.
Now Rep. Chip Roy is attacking Cheney for her support of Dr. Fauci, per source in the room.
He lamented that his liberal primary opponent retweeted Cheney’s tweet about Fauci.
Now Jim Jordan is laying into Cheney for all the times she has broke with Trump and started listing them off.
He said it'd be better if their conference chair helped Trump instead of going after him.
Rand Paul undeterred:
“Why would I give in to a bunch of ppl who want to fund another nation's border and ignore our own?” he tells us
“They’ll struggle thru this for 2-3 more days”
“We’re going to be beat the crap out of them for being for someone else’s border & not our own”
Reps. Louie Gohmert & Andy Biggs also got on the mics to defend Massie & express their concerns.
Biggs even accused Cheney of undermining their ability to win back the House & said if you don’t have something nice to say about Trump, then don’t say it at all, per source.
A little drama on the House floor just now.
MTG confronted Cheney and called her a “joke,” per
@kristin__wilson
.
Cheney said back that MTG was a joke & didn’t she need to be focusing on her anti-Semitic space lasers, per source.
MTG yelled back, “I never said that”
WHERE WE'RE AT:
--Jim Jordan can't get to 217
--Prospects for a resolution to empower interim speaker McHenry look grim
--Members getting death threats over their speaker votes
--Lawmakers swearing & yelling at each other in closed-door meeting
Day 16 without a speaker.
JUST IN: The House Intel Committee has scheduled a meeting for TUESDAY evening to vote on their report on the impeachment probe.
And members will be able to view a draft copy of the report 24 hours in advance of the markup.
GOP Freshman Rep. Nancy Mace says “all options” should be on the table when it comes to holding her GOP colleagues accountable for their role in the Capitol riots.
She also says the Republican who was live tweeting speaker’s movements (aka Lauren Boebert) should be investigated.
And for those keeping track at home, here are some of the things McCarthy has had to talk to his members about: orgy allegations, white nationalist conferences, jewish space lasers, and depictions of anime violence against Dems, to name a few.
NEW: Multiple House Republicans tell me they're infuriated by the decision for speaker candidates to participate in a televised debate w/ Fox News Host Bret Baier from the Capitol on Monday, & several of them have already communicated those frustrations to the speaker candidates.
Some striking comments from GOP Rep.
@FrancisRooney
, who just gaggled w/ reporters.
Says he was “shocked” by Mulvaney’s admission of a quid pro quo & says it could be a turning point in the Ukraine saga.
Also says it can’t be walked back, saying it’s “not an-etch a-sketch.”
Awkward moment at the House GOP presser just now, when leaders were asked whether Trump should speak at CPAC.
McCarthy immediately said yes, then Cheney said Trump shouldn’t play a role in the party.
After long few seconds of silence, McCarthy wraps up: “On that high note..”
House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy tells me he was not able to watch the Jan. 6 select committee hearing today because he was stuck in “back to back meetings.”
NEWS: Speaker Pelosi is considering adding GOP Rep. Adam Kinzinger to the select committee on Jan. 6, sources tell me.
When asked at a presser earlier today whether she'd appoint any Republicans to the panel, Pelosi said: "We'll see."
SCOOP: House Republican leaders are racing to distance themselves from a leading GOP congressional candidate after we uncovered hours of Facebook videos in which she expresses deeply racist, Islamophobic and anti-Semitic views.
the story w/
@allymutnick
:
Can confirm that House Republicans complained today about Cawthorn’s “orgy” & “cocaine” remarks.
Specifically, members said that if it’s true, he needs to name names because otherwise it unfairly maligns the entire institution.
McCarthy promised to speak with him about it.
Multiple sources tell me Leader Kevin McCarthy says he plans to talk to freshman Rep. Madison Cawthorn over his orgy remarks
Told several House Rs stood up who were upset. They said it wasn’t ok, they don’t believe it, etc
NEW: Rep
@Liz_Cheney
becomes the highest-ranking House Republican to denounce QAnon.
“QAnon is dangerous lunacy that should have no place in American politics," she said in a statement, after I asked for comment.
Yesterday, Trump said he "appreciates" the support of QAnon ppl.
Other Republicans stood up and expressed fury over Jordan for backing the empowering McHenry resolution, and suggested it was a self serving move. Some members encouraged him to drop out of speaker’s race.
NEWS: Rep. Jimmy Gomez's resolution to expel Marjorie Taylor Greene from Congress will be introduced as a *privileged* resolution, meaning it will get a floor vote. Could come as soon as next week.
all the latest from me &
@sarahnferris
:
This is just the latest escalation in the Cheney-Cruz feud.
It started last week when Cruz quipped the only lane for Cheney in 2024 is in the Dem Party. Cheney shot back: “I know you’re posturing for the secessionist vote.. You swore an oath to the Constitution. Act like it.”
Rep.
@DonYoungAK
just physically shoved me and told me to get out of his way “damnit” as I was trying to interview another lawmaker outside the door of the House chamber.
THREAD: Here are some of the concessions & promises that have been agreed to over the course of the speaker negotiations:
—Anyone can call for a vote to oust speaker
—McCarthy leadership PAC won’t play in safe open primaries
—Debt ceiling hike must be paired with spending cuts
NEW: Kevin McCarthy just gave a full throated defense of the Nyt tapes during a House GOP conference this morning, saying he was just floating scenarios about Trump’s future after Jan 6, and received a standing ovation, per multiple sources in the room.
Of course, even if Brooks joins forces with a senator, congressional Republicans won't actually be able to overturn the results of the election.
But Trump's Hill allies can at least cause some mischief on the floor — and turn the whole process into a Trump loyalty test for GOP.
NEW: Republicans on the bipartisan Problem Solvers Caucus are considering quitting the group “en masse” after Democrats in the group voted to oust McCarthy, per a GOP member of the group.
Latest sign of fallout after the historic removal of the speaker.
confirming
@juliegraceb
A number of GOP congressional offices have received the following Christmas card, per sources.
I confirmed its authenticity with Hustler, which told me “the card was sent by HUSTLER and was our official holiday card for 2019.”
I asked a bunch of Republicans why *this* was the thing that broke the camel’s back with Cawthorn.
Their response: the orgy & cocaine allegations implicated fellow Republicans. And some members were getting questions from concerned constituents — and spouses — about the claims.
Then: Calling Zelenskyy a “thug”
Now: Member orgies and cocaine
Fellow NC GOP members look to primary opponent for “embarrassment” Madison Cawthorn
@MZanona
@arogDC
@mkraju
on the tumultuous tenure of the freshman Rep
This comes as Greene — who was kicked off her committee assignments by Dems — has also been forcing a series of procedural votes, to the frustration of some her colleagues on both sides of the aisle.
He also complained that he has been trying to introduce bills to save lives, specifically a train bill, but “it’s not shit that gets on Fox News.”
Rep. Chip Roy then responded, saying said he also has constituents he represents and that he came to Washington to shrink government
NEWS w/
@mkraju
: Moderate Republicans are privately discussing teaming up w/ Democrats to avoid a government shutdown if the House GOP plan to fund the government fails on the House floor this week.
The idea was raised by mods in multiple leadership meetings tonight, per sources
It’s official: the House GOP has unanimously approved
@Jim_Jordan
to be the top Republican on the House Judiciary Committee &
@RepMarkMeadows
to be top Republican on the House Oversight Committee.
But MTG doubled down on her rhetoric, accusing her GOP colleagues of “doing the bidding" of Dems.
She told me went to McCarthy’s office to talk about it & said to him: “I don’t know how we’re ever going to accomplish anything when we can’t call people a liar when they’re lying.”
Rep. Jeff Van Drew's high-profile defection to the GOP — and sudden embrace of Trump — was supposed to be an act of political survival.
But less than one week out from Election Day, it's looking more like the kiss of death:
@heatherscope
The stunning move comes ahead of a historic vote on impeachment, to which Van Drew is strongly opposed.
But it also comes amid new polling that shows his approval numbers are underwater w/ Dem voters in his district:
Just 24% of ppl think he deserves to be reelected.
Incredibly emotional Democratic whips meeting this morning.
Speaker Pelosi got choked up talking about the passing of Elijah Cummings.
The normally chatty Gerry Connolly was at a loss for words.
Sanford Bishop was crying so hard be couldn’t finish his sentence to me.
McCarthy then got up and shot back that he’s had to explain to voters many times votes that Roy has taken.
Roy pressed McCarthy to name which votes he was taking about — “Really?”said Roy — but McCarthy didn’t name any, the source said.
MTG also denied involved in planning the rally, saying the "only thing" she was "very involved in" was objecting to the election results on Jan. 6.
Then, referring to Rolling Stone article, she added: "Shouldn’t they cover music?"
"But our nation is facing an unprecedented, since the civil war, constitutional crisis. That's what we need to be focused on. That's where our efforts and attention need to be." (2/2)
Rep. Matt Gaetz has revealed yet another promise that Kevin McCarthy made in his bid to become speaker: agreeing to release all the security camera footage from the Capitol on January 6.
Momentum is building for Santos expulsion.
Among the R's who will vote YES after previously opposing it:
- Andrew Garbarino (R-N.Y.)
- Greg Murphy (R-N.C.)
- Kelly Armstrong (R-N.D.)
- Dusty Johnson (R-S.D.)
- Michael Guest (R-M.S.)
- Ken Buck (R-C.O.)
- Zach Nunn (R-I.A.)
NEW: Speaker McCarthy told his members during a closed-conference meeting that there is no official document or 3-page addendum to the House Rules package detailing the additional concessions he made to his critics, per sources in the room.
Liz Cheney said in her opening statement that McCarthy himself was “scared” on 1/6 and was calling Trump’s allies and family members when he couldn’t persuade Trump to get the rioters to stand down. Unclear what she is quoting from.