Stefanik’s rise toward leadership job irks hard-right conservatives
WASHINGTON — Conservatives in and out of Congress are expressing opposition to Rep. Elise Stefanik’s rise toward House Republicans’ No. 3 leadership job, grumbling that’s unlikely to derail her but serves notice that the right wing is battling again to affect the party’s future.
House Republicans plan to meet privately next week, probably Wednesday, and seem certain to oust Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyo., from that top post. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-Calif., seems likely to postpone a vote on replacing Cheney until sometime later, according to two House GOP aides who discussed the delay on condition of anonymity, giving restive conservatives a chance to coalesce behind an alternative.
It’s unlikely any challenger would defeat Stefanik, who has the backing of former President Donald Trump, McCarthy and No. 2 House GOP leader Steve Scalise of Louisiana. That triumvirate — especially the former president — virtually assures victory for Stefanik, 36, a onetime Trump critic who evolved into his strident ally.
But with the hard right distrustful of Stefanik, owner of one of the House GOP’s most moderate voting records, conservatives say forcing her to face a challenge would signal she’s not universally accepted and will have to contend with them moving forward.
“We must not rush into a de-facto coronation of any handpicked replacement whose voting record does not reflect the views of the conference,” first-term Rep. Bob Good, R-Va., said in a statement. “We must select someone who will wholeheartedly support the conservative membership.”
Good said Republicans should be allowed to “work through the process” of replacing Cheney. The conservative Club for Growth, wary of Stefanik’s past opposition to tax cuts and easing environmental regulations, is also pushing for time so a Stefanik rival can emerge, a view Republicans say is widely shared among conservatives.
The hard-right House Freedom Caucus has taken no public position on Stefanik. But its members, said to number around 40, are known to be uncomfortable with her.
As she works to secure her election, Stefanik has told colleagues she’d serve as No. 3 leader only through the 2022 election year, said a GOP lawmaker and an aide speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss internal conversations. She’s said she’d take the top GOP slot on the House Education and Labor Committee the following year. The scenario was first reported by Politico.
Delaying the Stefanik vote could also help McCarthy, who hopes to be elected speaker should Republicans win House control in the 2022 elections. There’s no need for him to risk support from conservatives, long skeptical of him, by denying them a chance to advance a Stefanik challenger.
Stefanik, whose office declined to comment for this article, does have some significant conservative credentials. These include past support from the National Rifle Association and endorsements from the Susan B. Anthony List, an anti-abortion group.
But she’s consistently gotten moderate scores for her voting record: a lifetime 48% from Heritage Action for America and 35% from Club for Growth, a pair of conservative organizations, among the lowest grades for House Republicans.
She voted with Trump 78% of the time when he was president, according to votes tracked by the website fivethirtyeight. com, again one of the lowest marks in the House GOP. That included voting to oppose Trump’s signature 2017 tax cuts, his unilateral use of money to build the southern border wall and his withdrawal of troops from Syria.