Growing group of GOP members wants McCarthy to punish Kinzinger and Cheney for joining January 6 committee

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(CNN) A growing group of rank-and-file House Republicans wants House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and GOP leadership to punish Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for accepting a position from House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to serve on the select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection.

The push to seek punishment rose to a new level on Sunday, after Pelosi announced that Kinzinger had accepted her invitation to join the committee. While the loudest cries have come from members of the hard-right Freedom Caucus, sources say that the sentiment has started to spread beyond the hard-line crew.
Rep. Scott Perry, a Freedom Caucus member, publicly called on Conference Chair Elise Stefanik to call a special GOP conference meeting to “address appropriate measures” related to Pelosi booting two of McCarthy’s chosen picks from the committee.
McCarthy’s office did not respond to questions about Republicans pushing him to punish Kinzinger and Cheney. Sources say McCarthy and GOP leadership have no appetite to get involved in a protracted battle over punishing Cheney and Kinzinger.
When Pelosi first suggested she might appoint a Republican to the committee, McCarthy warned a group of freshman Republican that if one of them were to accept an appointment from the speaker, they should plan on getting all their committee assignments from her. Now members are pointing to McCarthy’s threat and clamoring for action.
A spokesperson for Kinzinger suggested if McCarthy choses to punish the duo it would be an example of a bigger problem with his leadership.
“It would speak volumes if he took away their committee assignments for upholding their oath to protecting our democracy,” said Maura Gillespie, Kinzinger’s communications director.
“My oath, my duty, all of our oaths, all of our duty are to the Constitution and that will always be my focus, not politics,” Cheney said after Pelosi first announced her appointment earlier this month.

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Article URL : https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/25/politics/republicans-mccarthy-kinzinger-cheney-january-6-committee/index.html