Trump ally pushes Republican Party to expel Cheney, Kinzinger

A prominent Trump ally is pushing the Republican Party to formally expel Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger at the party’s annual meeting this week in Salt Lake City, setting up a public showdown over the party’s direction.

David Bossie, a two-time Trump campaign adviser who serves as a national committeeman from Maryland, submitted a resolution to party leadership that attacks Cheney, R-Wyo., and Kinzinger, R-Ill., and calls for the Republican National Committee to formally endorse their ouster from the House Republican conference, according to people with knowledge of the document.

The resolution has circulated among party officials and members in recent days. It is co-sponsored by Frank Eathorne, the state chairman of the Wyoming Republican Party and a Trump ally. RNC Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel has not taken a position on the resolution.

The resolution is expected to be debated by RNC members in Salt Lake City this week, where the party gathers for its annual meeting, according to Republican Party officials and RNC members. Should the resolution pass, it would be an unusual and public rebuke from a political party against two of its incumbent members of Congress.

In the resolution, Bossie cites the pair’s work for the House select committee investigating the Jan. 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol as a reason they should be expelled from being Republicans, along with their efforts to “destroy President Trump,” according to people with knowledge of the document. In the document, he says the two should focus on helping Republicans win back the House of Representatives instead of helping Democrats through their work on the committee, people familiar with the document say.

Bossie did not respond to a request for comment.

“The leaders of the Republican Party have made themselves willing hostages to a man who admits he tried to ‘overturn’ a presidential election and suggests he would pardon Jan. 6 defendants, some of whom have been charged with seditious conspiracy,” Cheney said. “I’m a constitutional conservative and I do not recognize those in my party who have abandoned the Constitution to embrace Donald Trump. History will be their judge. I will never stop fighting for our constitutional republic. No matter what.”

Kinzinger could not be immediately reached for comment. Kinzinger has said he is not running for reelection, and Cheney faces a tough race in Wyoming. Cheney was already removed from House Republican leadership last year after she voted for Trump’s impeachment and regularly denounced his conduct leading up to Jan. 6 and during the riot.

“I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office,” Cheney said after she was removed from House leadership.

Cheney and Kinzinger remain among the few Republicans willing to criticize Trump for the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol by his supporters - and his unrelenting efforts to overturn the election. Many other Republicans were initially critical of Trump but have since fallen back in line. Cheney has taken an active and aggressive role on the committee, according to fellow members and aides.

Some of the party’s members are pushing the RNC to scuttle the motion, saying it would make for a messy internecine public fight instead of attacking Democrats or talking about the midterm elections.

Many of the party’s 168 members are Trump fans, and he remains the most potent force in the Republican Party. He is expected to soon disclose having about $120 million in his super PAC - more than any other party committee - and is the front-runner in most polls for a potential 2024 nomination. “We love you!” RNC members shouted to Trump one day after the Capitol riots last year when he called into the RNC meeting, and some of the committee members at the time wanted RNC officials to release a statement blaming antifa and others for the violence at the Capitol.

But there are some signs his grip on the party is slipping, and some of the party’s committee members would prefer to avoid a nasty public fight at a time they say they are in good shape to win back majorities in Congress.