GOP censures Kinzinger, Cheney, moves to pull out of debates

SALT LAKE CITY – Republican Party officials on Friday voted to punish Republican Reps. Adam Kinzinger and Liz Cheney for their work on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6 insurrection and advanced a rule change that would prohibit candidates from participating in debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates.

GOP officials took a voice vote to approve censuring Cheney and Kinzinger at the Republican National Committee’s winter meeting in Salt Lake City. On Thursday, members of an RNC subcommittee decided to advance the censure resolution against the pair instead of calling for their expulsion from the party.

The censure resolution accuses Kinzinger and Cheney of “participating in a Democrat-led persecution of ordinary citizens engaged in legitimate political discourse” – a striking description of the violent attack on the Capitol by supporters of then-President Donald Trump.

It also calls on the party to no longer support Cheney and Kinzinger as Republicans.

Kinzinger, of Illinois, and Cheney, of Wyoming, are the only two Republicans on the House committee investigating the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the Capitol. Trump and other GOP members were incensed when Kinzinger and Cheney agreed to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s invitation to join the Democratic-led House committee, giving the Jan. 6 panel a veneer of bipartisan credibility.

The move to withhold support for Cheney could benefit her primary opponent, Harriet Hageman, who has been endorsed by Trump. Wyoming’s primary is in August.

Kinzinger is not running for reelection.

In a statement released Thursday night ahead of the RNC censure vote, Kinzinger said he’s been a member of the Republican Party before Trump. Kinzinger was first elected to Congress in 2010.

“My values and core beliefs remain the same and have not wavered,” he said. “I’m a conservative who believes in truth, freedom and upholding the Constitution of the United States.”

“Rather than focus their efforts on how to help the American people, my fellow Republicans have chosen to censure two lifelong members of their party for simply upholding their oaths of office. They’ve allowed conspiracies and toxic tribalism to hinder their ability to see clear-eyed.”

Kinzinger, who is a pilot and a member of the Wisconsin Air National Guard, said in a tweet Thursday night that he would be “on military duty for a few days” and would not have further comment beyond his statement.

“Afterwards I will have some follow-up thoughts on defending our country from lies and profit-driven con artists. America deserves better,” Kinzinger tweeted.

RNC members also voted in favor of a rule change that would prohibit their candidates from participating in debates organized by the Commission on Presidential Debates. The institution has been a staple of presidential elections for three decades, but Republicans have decried the format as biased.

“Restoring faith in our elections means making sure our candidate can compete on a level playing field,” RNC chair Ronna McDaniel said in a speech Friday. “We are not walking away from debates, we are walking away from the Commission on Presidential Debates because it’s a biased monopoly that does not serve the best interests of the American people.”