What happened Tuesday in the House Republican conference meeting is not one of those times.
Here's CNN reporting of what went down:
"Several House Republicans attacked House GOP Conference Chairwoman Liz Cheney of Wyoming during a conference meeting Tuesday morning for supporting Dr. Anthony Fauci and splitting with President Donald Trump on a variety of issues over the past few months, three sources who were in the room told CNN.
"Members including Reps. Jim Jordan of Ohio, Matt Gaetz of Florida, Thomas Massie of Kentucky, Chip Roy of Texas, Andy Biggs of Arizona, Scott Perry of Pennsylvania and Ralph Norman of South Carolina all chimed in to air grievances against Cheney."
A gang-up on a member of GOP leadership doesn't just happen. Particularly not when the group of members who went after Cheney include some of the most high-profile members of the House Freedom Caucus, which also doubles as a bloc of President Donald Trump's most loyal allies. Make no mistake: This was a concerted act to force Cheney back into line with Trump or, at the very least, to know he (and they) were watching her very, very closely.
You still might be wondering: So what? Trump doesn't like when Republicans disagree with him. His congressional minions make sure the apostate is aware of the danger in which she is putting herself. In another administration, maybe that's a big story. In the Trump administration? That's just Tuesday.
Here's why it matters: What played out behind closed doors on Tuesday among Republicans is one of a series of small stirrings in the coming fight for what the Republican Party after Trump might look like.
"Griping at leadership is basically the defining characteristic of a House GOP Conference meeting," tweeted Brendan Buck, who worked for two Republican speakers -- John Boehner and Paul Ryan. "But an ambush like this against one member is actually quite rare. Hard not to look at it as the opening volley in the fight over a potential post-Trump GOP."
That is exactly right. And like Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan's stepped-up criticism of Trump and Republicans who have enabled him, Cheney is playing the long game -- and making a big bet: That the post-Trump party will have a lane of not-insignificant size for traditional conservatives who balk at some of Trump's governmental and Constitutional largesses.
What Cheney is doing here is trying to preserve a version of the Republican Party that resembles the banner under which George W. Bush and her father, Dick Cheney, won two national elections last decade. Lower taxes and conservative judges, yes. But also a belief in moral rightness, in conservative values, in respect for the Constitution and the rule of law.
It's not dissimilar to what then-Speaker Ryan attempted to do in the run-up to the 2016 election -- distancing himself (and his House candidates) from Trump in the wake of the "Access Hollywood" scandal. Ryan eventually gave up on that fight, however, and endorsed Trump -- albeit without much joy. Sick
