World News | Divided House GOP Faces Decisions on Reps Greene, Cheney

Washington, Feb 3 (AP) Divided House Republicans approached showdowns on Wednesday over Reps Marjorie Taylor Greene and Liz Cheney, who've antagonised opposing wings of the GOP as the party struggles to define itself with Donald Trump gone from the White House.

House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., met for 90 minutes late Tuesday with Greene, R-Ga. The hard-right freshman has burst onto the national political scene after using social media to endorse outlandish conspiracy theories and violent, racist views.

McCarthy is under bipartisan pressure to remove Greene from her committee assignments, and the Democratic-run House scheduled an initial step Wednesday toward removing her from her panels.

McCarthy's meeting with Greene, and a subsequent meeting by a GOP panel that decides that party's committee assignments, suggested Republicans were considering making a move themselves. That would bypass a full House vote removing Greene from her committees that could be politically uncomfortable for many Republicans.

Republicans had appointed Greene to the Education committee, a decision that drew especially harsh criticism because of her suggestions that school shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and Parkland, Florida, could be hoaxes.

Aides to McCarthy and Greene were not saying Wednesday what would happen next.

“No matter what @GOPLeader does it would never be enough for the hate America Democrats," Greene tweeted early Wednesday.

Meanwhile, House Republicans planned a closed-door meeting later Wednesday in which Cheney's political fate could be decided. The GOP's furthest right wing was itching to oust Cheney, R-Wyo., from her post as the No. 3 House Republican after she voted last month to impeach Trump.

Cheney is a leader of her party's traditional conservatives and is a daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney.

The strife underscores Republican fissures as the party seeks a path forward two weeks after Trump left office as the only twice-impeached president. House Republicans are effectively deciding whether to prioritize the former president's norm-shattering behavior and conspiracy theories and retain the loyalty of his voters over more establishment conservative values.

“We can either become a fringe party that never wins elections or rebuild the big tent party of Reagan,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan, one of the few elected Republicans who routinely rebuked Trump, said in a written statement. Without mentioning Cheney or Greene, he added, “I urge congressional Republicans to make the right choice.”

But pro-Trump forces remain powerful. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)