McCarthy endorses Cheney foe in Wyoming GOP primary

On Feb 18, 2022

The tension between the two began in the wake of the January 6, 2021, insurrection at the US Capitol when Cheney called for her party to move on from former President Donald Trump and voted to impeach him, while McCarthy chose to cozy up to the former President. Cheney’s criticism of Trump led to his backers in the House to successfully push for her to be removed from her position as the chairwoman of the GOP Conference. It was a move McCarthy initially resisted, but ultimately backed.

“I am proud to endorse Harriet Hageman for Congress,” McCarthy said in a statement Thursday. “[Throughout] her career, Harriet has championed America’s natural resources and helped the people of Wyoming reject burdensome and onerous government overreach.”

The California Republican later explained his endorsement in remarks to Fox’s Sean Hannity.

“Wyoming deserves to have a representative who will deliver the accountability against this Biden administration. Not a representative that they have today that works closer with Nancy Pelosi, going after Republicans instead of stopping these radical Democrats from what they’re doing to this country,” McCarthy said.

Hageman responded to the endorsement in a statement, saying, “I am very grateful for Leader McCarthy’s strong support, and I pledge that when I am Wyoming’s congresswoman, I will always stand up for our beautiful state and do the job I was sent there to do.”

McCarthy’s endorsement was first reported by the Federalist.

The policy of the National Republican Congressional Committee is that they do not get involved in primaries with incumbents, but individual members of leadership are free to do as they please. Still, McCarthy has generally stayed out of these intraparty battles. His gamble is that the goodwill this endorsement will earn him with Trump and his backers will outweigh the risk that Cheney could win and thereby show that his support is not that valuable. That dangerous calculus is generally why leaders stay out of primaries.

However, as CNN reported earlier month, McCarthy is facing increased pressure from the Trump-aligned wing of the GOP conference that is pushing for him to take action against Cheney and fellow Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois for their roles on the House select committee investigating the January 6 insurrection. While McCarthy has held off intense efforts to boot the duo out of the Republican conference, he ultimately was able to convince members of the hardline Freedom Caucus that a better course of action would be to become active in the primary of Cheney. Kinzinger has decided not to run for reelection.

Initially, McCarthy refused to say if he planned to endorse Hageman.

While McCarthy’s decision will be welcomed by members of the Freedom Caucus and could help him stave off a potential challenge for the speaker’s gavel should Republicans win back the majority, it won’t come without a cost. Many rank-and-file Republicans are uncomfortable with members of the party turning on each other and fear it could ultimately hurt their efforts to win elections in competitive districts.

“I think the party should try and continue to work with them,” said Texas Rep. Pete Sessions. “I…

McCarthy endorses Cheney foe in Wyoming GOP primary

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