Liz Cheney, Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the Ideological Battle Consuming the Republican Party
US Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY). Source.
According to her campaign website, Representative Liz Cheney (R-WY) “is a proud constitutional conservative and an advocate for a strong America.” Her values seem to lineup one-to-one with the mission of the modern Republican Party that claims to be “fighting for a freer and stronger America where everyone has the opportunity to achieve the American Dream.” However, recent developments within the House Republican Caucus following President Trump’s second impeachment have highlighted the changing nature of ideological divisions within the GOP. On one end of the spectrum, you have Liz Cheney, a longtime fixture of Republican politics and “Republican Royalty”, on the other, political newcomer and representative from Georgia’s 14th district Marjorie Taylor Greene.
These two figures, while nominally members of the same party, occupy two distinctly different wings of the GOP. Cheney’s group is the “old-school” traditionally conservative Republicans and Greene’s group is largely a right-wing, ultranationalist tilt with some shades of QAnon conspiracy theorism. While ideological divisions between the center and the far right have pervaded in the Republican party before, it seems as though a new movement is developing. Even now, with Donald Trump out of the White House and returned to Mar-a-Lago, his loyal supporters and apologists in congress have continued their tirades of praise for the former president - chief among them freshman Representative Greene.
Greene’s first weeks in office were rife with news reports uncovering her past promotion of conspiracy theories and attacks against Parkland shooting survivor David Hogg. As a result, she was stripped of her committee assignments on February 4th in a bipartisan 230-199 vote in the U.S. House. At the same time, there are many in the House Republican Caucus expressing displeasure with Rep. Cheney for her vote to impeach former President Trump. Most notably among this group is Florida Congressman Matt Gaetz who traveled to the Wyoming state capitol to speak publicly against Cheney stating "We are in a battle for the soul of the Republican party, and I intend to win it."
Rep. Gaetz’s words echo the divide in the post-Trump GOP. Those, like Gaetz, who relentlessly defend the former president have become further removed from their more moderate colleagues like Liz Cheney. Is this the new norm for the Republic Party? While it may be too soon to make grandiose predictions about the party’s future, many pundits and commentators seem to think that Greene is a potential new figurehead. Whether or not Rep. Greene becomes formal party leader, she has solidified herself as the congressional mouthpiece of the MAGA-loyal (and QAnon true-believers) faction of conservatives in the United States.
This begs the question: Where does Liz Cheney fit in this new Republican Party? At the present moment, the House Republican Conference has voted to keep Cheney in her position as the Conference chair, the third-highest ranking member of the House Republican leadership. However, there are at least 61 members of her party that do not believe she should remain in her role. Cheney’s brand of conservatism, perhaps now “mainstream” conservatism, has met a fierce challenger in Marjorie Taylor Greene and her brand of conspiracy conservatism which is on the rise and a clear and present danger to the GOP establishment.