ORLANDO — There’s a sharp division over former President Donald Trump’s role in the Republican Party, but the House GOP spent very little time discussing it during a three-day annual retreat.
Instead, lawmakers sketched out a plan for winning back the majority in 2022 and setting in place an agenda that they think they will have the momentum to pass when they take over in January 2023, say those who attended.
“There wasn’t 1% of the discussion in or out of official meetings that had to do with sort of divisions in the party, but rather, where do we go next, how do we stem the adverse effect for the next months, and what’s our agenda going to be going forward,” said Rep. Darrell Issa, a California Republican who returned to the House last year after redistricting prompted him to forgo reelection in 2018 after nearly two decades in office.
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Unlike past retreats, this one lacked a big headliner, notably, the former president. Despite Orlando’s proximity to Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, he was not invited to the retreat. His appearance would have been opposed by some lawmakers in the Conference who want him banished from the party, a group that includes Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming.
Republican leaders brushed off Trump’s absence and said they wanted lawmakers simply to focus on developing key policy issues that can appeal to voters in the midterm elections. The GOP spent Monday talking about energy policy, Big Tech censorship, the economy, and national security, as well as a session headed by former White House press secretaries Ari Fleischer and Sara Huckabee Sanders titled “How to work with the press.”
Pollsters Frank Luntz and David Winston provided the GOP “messaging guidance on hot topics.”
Trump was not among the topics, despite predictions he will play an outsize role in determining winners in the 2022 midterm elections.
“We are focused on policy and building a better America as we move forward,” Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, a California Republican who is poised to become speaker in a GOP-led House, told reporters Tuesday. “We believe Republicans will take the House in 2022.”
Some House GOP leaders insist Trump will be an asset for Republican House candidates.
Minority Whip Steve Scalise, a Louisiana Republican who sported “Trump 2020” socks at the retreat, said he regularly speaks to the former president.
“When I’ve talked to him, he’s very concerned about which direction the economy is going to go and what’s happening to a lot of the energy jobs that have already been lost and what other industries are gonna be next,” Scalise said. “And he wants to help us get the House back.”
But Cheney said Trump should not play any role in the party and told reporters those who voted in January against certifying President Joe Biden’s election should be politically disqualified from running for president in 2024.
Trump, meanwhile, is planning to endorse the candidate who challenges Cheney in a primary.
Republican leaders have declined to criticize Cheney but do not support her public opposition to Trump and repeated comments that highlight party divisions.
“Any member who is not focused on policy and making sure the next century is the American Century is kind of wasting their time,” McCarthy said Tuesday, not mentioning Cheney by name.
Cheney is not alone in wanting Trump banished from the party.
She was among 10 lawmakers who voted in January to impeach him for inciting an insurrection in the form of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol.
Sen. Mitt Romney, a Utah Republican and the 2012 GOP presidential nominee, is among the senators who do not believe Trump should return to public office.
Cheney and McCarthy did not appear together during press events at the retreat. Cheney spoke extensively to the media on Monday and, in interviews, did not hold back her disdain for Trump and the GOP lawmakers who voted against certifying Biden’s presidential victory.
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McCarthy dodged direct criticism of Cheney, but when asked if she belonged in the leadership, he responded, “That’s a question for the Conference.”
McCarthy added that lawmakers at the conference should be talking about policy and the future of America.
“If you are talking about something else, you are not being productive,” McCarthy said.
