Several Republicans are displeased that Wyoming Republican Rep. Liz Cheney, along with nine other Republican senators, has voted in favor of impeaching Trump for his role in inciting the insurrection at the US Capitol on January 6.
However, Cheney remains one of the most powerful House Republicans despite her vote. The House Republicans had a meeting to debate over this, however, it concluded with 145-61 votes in favor of Cheney to hold her position as the chair of the Republican Conference.
The Republican House Leader Kevin McCarthy has claimed that Liz has a right to have a difference of opinion and vote according to what she believes, but the Republicans will remain united nevertheless.
During the meeting, the Republicans also discussed Georgia representative Marjorie Taylor Greene’s racist remarks on social media before she was sworn-in as a Congress member. They have decided not to punish her.
The Democrats, however, have demanded that her committee assignments should be suspended as a punishment. They have called out the Republicans for not holding her accountable for her actions, one of which included her liking a comment on social media that encouraged violence against House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
They were also enraged that she was appointed to the Education and Labor Committee after she claimed that mass school shootings, such as Parkland Florida in 2018, were only fake performances arranged by the Democrats for their agenda of gun control.
The Republicans believe that she should not be punished for her activities on social media before the election in November.
The House of Representatives has passed legislation for budget reconciliation that will allow the chamber to initiate work on President Joe Biden’s $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief package which includes funding for vaccine development and distribution, for state and local governments, and $1400 stimulus checks.
This will allow the Senate to move ahead with the bill, without having to secure 10 votes from the Republicans. This would have been difficult because the Republicans are reluctant to release another stimulus package after recently passing one in December. However, under the budget reconciliation process, the Democrats will not be able to implement some of their plans such as raising the minimum wage.
However the Democrats want to continue with the bill as Rep. John Yarmouth, D-Ky has stated that they need to immediately respond to the crises concerning the country.