House Representative Chip Roy (R-Texas) did the unthinkable on Tuesday: He called out Representative Elise Stefanik’s (R-N.Y.) ghastly voting record:
We are falling prey to the high drama of swamp politics — the art of shuffling around the deck chairs [while ignoring the] large iceberg in front of our country….
Let us contemplate the message Republican leadership is about to send by rushing to coronate a spokesperson whose voting record embodies much of what led to the 2018 [shellacking] we received by Democrats….
We must avoid putting in charge Republicans who campaign as Republicans but then vote for and advance the Democrats’ agenda once sworn in.
Roy proceeded to list Stefanik’s specific positions and votes on key issues, including:
Voting against President Trump’s Tax Cuts and Jobs Act;
Voting repeatedly to undermine his border security efforts, including her co-sponsorship of a bill granting permanent status to Dreamers;
Voting to stay in the Paris Climate Agreement; and
Voting to ban drilling in the Eastern Gulf of Mexico.
Wrote Roy: “Please tell me how we are sending a message today that we are standing up for [the American people] with a … colleague with that record as our spokesperson?”
He concluded:
We should … choose someone who reflects our conservative values … and focus on a strong agenda based on defending America from the radical left.
Stefanik completely ignored Roy and his complaint in her letter to House Republicans touting herself as the leading candidate to replace Liz Cheney as head of the House Republican Conference.
Nothing was mentioned about her voting record (her dismal rating of 40 in The New American’s Freedom Index versus Roy’s 85), but instead Stefanik concentrated on pushing all the buttons on why she is the one best suited to run the show.
The congresswoman wrote in a letter announcing her candidacy for the position that the party needs a “unified conservative vision.” We need to be “united in our laser focus on defeating the radical Socialist Democrat agenda of President Biden and Speaker Pelosi.” We must “go on an aggressive offense every single day to break through the biased media.” “If we get our message out, “she stated, “we will win and save America.”
Stefanik touted her accomplishments as a fundraiser, and her success in flipping a Democrat-controlled House seat when she first won the 21st District in New York in 2014. She reminded her colleagues of her success in “growing” the Republican Party by supporting Republican female candidates and raising millions to support their campaigns.
Stefanik ended her plea with these words:
I look forward to working with you as we share our unified conservative vision, regain the Majority [in 2022], fire Speaker Pelosi once and for all, and fight on behalf of the American people to save our country.
Representative Roy’s challenge is a reminder that the ultimate bulwark against tyranny is the Constitution, a document with which Stefanik appears to be unfamiliar and is therefore willing to ignore.
As of this writing, no date has been set for the vote to replace the former head of the conference.
