Byron “the Hair” York helpfully explains why the House Republicans are about to jettison Liz Cheney from her leadership role. I think you need to see the following in full to get an appreciation for the moral funk we’re witnessing:

On January 25, Republican Representative Dan Newhouse sent out a press release announcing that he had been chosen to serve as one of his party’s assistant whips. “I’m honored to have been selected,” Newhouse said. GOP Whip Steve Scalise, who chose Newhouse, added, “I’m very excited to welcome Dan to the Whip Team for the 117th Congress.”

Twelve days earlier, on January 13, Newhouse voted to impeach President Donald Trump. Newhouse, who had gotten word in December that he would likely be selected for the whip team, stayed on as planned after the impeachment vote.

So much for ruthless Republican punishment of GOP lawmakers who voted to impeach Trump. The Newhouse experience — and that of other Republicans who voted to impeach and were not punished or exiled — sheds light on the current brouhaha over House Republican Conference Chair Liz Cheney. Cheney’s problem is not that she voted to impeach Trump. It is that she can’t move on from voting to impeach Trump.

I admit that it’s problematic to have someone in leadership who won’t whitewash the January 6 insurrection when the rest of the party is intent on doing exactly that. But that’s a shortcoming of the Republican Party, not Liz Cheney. You can’t rightly argue that you’re tolerant of those who voted to impeach Trump when you insist they do not speak out about why they impeached him. If the Republicans were on board with a full inquisition into the deadly January 6 assault on the Capitol, then it would be far easier for Cheney to focus on her leadership job, which is “executing a communications strategy that is executed within the party and is conveyed to constituents through the media.”

Eliana Johnson tells much the same story at Politico. 

Cheney’s allies say that allowing Trump to promulgate lies about the election, as he has done since November, risks another insurrection. She has every right to make that her focus. But it’s one thing to do that as a rank-and-file member; her job as conference chairwoman is to help the party regain a House majority next year by rallying Republicans around a message that unites them and damages Democrats’ prospects.

Again, this problem is a consequence of sticking with Trump’s lies rather than seeking to hold him accountable. Cheney stands out as a lone off-message wolf, but only because almost everyone else in her caucus is either a genuine crank or a monumental coward. It actually would be possible to both disown Trump and to stay on message against the Democrats. It’s leaving Cheney out to dry that makes this inoperative.

CNN’s Jamie Gangel reports that House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy is concerned that he may be called to testify before a January 6 inquiry, and that would compel him to discuss his conversation with Trump that occurred while the insurrection was taking place. In February, Rep. Jaime Herrera-Beutler of Washington, who voted to impeach Trump, explained what happened on that call.

When McCarthy finally reached the president on Jan. 6 and asked him to publicly and forcefully call off the riot, the president initially repeated the falsehood that it was antifa that had breached the Capitol. McCarthy refuted that and told the president that these were Trump supporters. That’s when, according to McCarthy, the president said, ‘Well, Kevin, I guess these people are more upset about the election than you are.’

McCarthy is optimistic that the Republicans will pick up seats in the 2022 midterm elections and he will become the Speaker of the House. He believes that he’ll lose that chance if Trump doesn’t support him, and that’s why he’s opposing an inquiry unless it also includes an examination of riots and looting that took place during the protests against the police killing of George Floyd. The goal is to insist on something that is unacceptable to the Democrats as a way of opposing any January 6 inquest at all. If he doesn’t have to testify about Trump, he won’t risk having his ambitions sunk if he tells the truth under oath.

When the leader of the House Republicans is acting this way, it should surprise no one that the rest of the caucus is no better behaved.

The problem here is Trump, not Liz Cheney. The problem is also Kevin McCarthy.

And, ultimately, the problem is the Republican base which continues to support Trump and threaten violence or political death to anyone who contradicts him.