Republican Rep. Jim Banks advocated for Reps. Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger to be removed from the House Republican Conference for their participation in the select committee formed to investigate the Jan. 6 riot at the Capitol.
“It’s long past time for the Republican Party to kick Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger out of the House GOP Conference,” Banks said Friday night on Fox News. The Indiana congressman was selected by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy to be ranking member of the Jan. 6 committee but was blocked from the committee by House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
“It’s way past time for us to do that,” Banks continued. “The fact that they’re participating in an effort to derail Republicans winning back the House majority to save this country tells you that they’re battling for the other team. They don’t belong in the House GOP conference.”
GOP REP. JOHN KATKO, WHO VOTED TO IMPEACH TRUMP, WON’T SEEK REELECTION
WATCH: @RepJimBanks calls for the House GOP to kick @Liz_Cheney and dinky @AdamKinzinger out of the Republican Conference.
REAL Republicans are on offense now.
Buckle up. pic.twitter.com/S9JJvPrW3a
— X Strategies LLC (@XStrategiesLLC) January 15, 2022
Before Banks’s statement, calls to remove Cheney and Kinzinger from the conference were largely limited to members of the House Freedom Caucus.
House Republican rules require a two-thirds vote from the entire conference to expel a member.
But Arizona Rep. Andy Biggs, former chairman of the House Freedom Caucus, in July proposed a rule to get around the two-thirds requirement: Change the conference rules to automatically expel any member who sits on a committee without a recommendation from the Republican leader or Republican Steering Committee.
The rule change would require a simple majority, but it has not been brought to a vote in conference meetings.
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After Pelosi blocked McCarthy’s Jan. 6 committee picks of Banks and Rep. Jim Jordan, he pulled his other three selections in protest unless all five could be seated. Pelosi appointed Cheney, a Wyoming congresswoman, and Kinzinger, who is from Illinois.
Biggs and several other members of the House Freedom Caucus in September asked McCarthy to bring the rule to a vote to kick Cheney and Kinzinger out.
