Sunday shows – Cheney removal, CDC guidance reverberate

by The Hill staff - 05/16/21 11:34 AM ET

Rep. Liz Cheney’s removal from House GOP leadership for criticizing former President Trump dominated the Sunday morning political talk shows, with the Wyoming Republican making appearances on multiple networks.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky also appeared on several shows to discuss new guidance lifting coronavirus restrictions for vaccinated people.

Read The Hill’s complete coverage below.

Cheney: 'The majority of the Republican Party is not where I am'

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said on Sunday that “the majority of the Republican Party is not where I am,” days after House GOP lawmakers voted to remove her from her leadership post for challenging former President Trump’s unproven claims of election fraud.

“I know that there are many members who have expressed concern about their own security. And I think that's an important point to think about as well, that we now live in a country where members' votes are affected because they're worried about their security, they're worried about threats on their lives,” Cheney said on ABC's "This Week."

Read the full story here

'No question' another attack like Jan. 6, or worse, can occur due to election fraud claims, Cheney says

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

“We have to recognize how quickly things can unravel. We have to recognize what it means for the nation to have a former president who has not conceded and who continues to suggest that our electoral system cannot function, cannot do the will of the people,” Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.) said.

Read the full story here

Cheney: I can't ignore Trump because he 'continues to be a real danger'

By JOSEPH CHOI

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wyo.), who was recently ousted as House Republican Conference Chair, said on Sunday that she could not simply ignore former President Trump because he "continues to be a real danger."

Read the full story here

Kinzinger: 'I would love to move on' from Trump but he is the leader of the GOP

By JOSEPH CHOI

"You cannot on the one hand say that Donald Trump is a leader or the leader of the Republican Party — which I believe he is the leader of the Republican Party right now because Kevin McCarthy gave him his leadership card. You can't say he's the leader and then say we have to move on. I would love to move on, Chuck," Rep. Adam Kinzinger (R-Ill.) said.

Read the full story here

Crenshaw says Republicans can't 'ex-communicate' Trump

By JOSEPH CHOI

"These are complex human relationships that involve millions of people. And I have always said, look, I do not think Trump is the devil and I won't say that. I don't think he's Jesus either, you know, I'm a rational human being about this," Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) said.

Read the full story here

Maryland GOP governor: Trump is 'toxic for the Republican Party and for the country'

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

“We've got to find a way to get the Republican Party back to the party of Lincoln and Reagan, get back to the more traditional big-tent party that can appeal to a majority of people. Otherwise we simply aren't going to have control, we're not going to get the White House back and we won't have control of the House and the Senate,” Maryland Gov. Larry Hogan (R) said.

Read the full story here

'Absolutely bogus' for GOP to downplay Jan. 6, House Republican says

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Mich.) on Sunday said his Republican colleagues downplaying the Jan. 6 attack on the Capitol building is “absolutely bogus.”

Read the full story here

CDC director denies political pressure affected new mask guidelines

By JOSEPH CHOI

Rochelle Walensky, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), on Sunday said that the agency's recent decision to recommend that vaccinated no longer wear masks had nothing to do with political pressure from lawmakers.

Read the full story here

Walensky defends new mask guidance saying science 'evolved'

By OLAFIMIHAN OSHIN

"We now have science that has really just evolved even in the last two weeks that demonstrates that these vaccines are safe, they are effective,” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said. “They are working in a population just as they did in the clinical trials that they are working against our variants that we have here circulating in the United States.”

Read the full story here

'We're not counting on vaccine mandates at all,' CDC director says

By JOSEPH CHOI

"We're not counting on vaccine mandates at all. It may very well be that local businesses, local jurisdictions will work toward vaccine mandates. That is going to be locally driven and not federally driven," Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Director Rochelle Walensky said.

Read the full story here

Walensky says unvaccinated children should continue wearing masks

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

The director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday said unvaccinated children should continue to wear masks and social distance, despite new guidelines from the agency that lifts restrictions for vaccinated adults and adolescents.

Read the full story here

Schiff: Biden administration needs to 'push harder' to stop violence in Mideast

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) on Sunday called on the Biden administration to “push harder” on Israel and the Palestinian Authority to stop the violence in the Mideast, as clashes between the country's forces and Hamas militants escalates.

Read the full story here

Netanyahu: 'We're trying to degrade Hamas's terrorist abilities'

By MYCHAEL SCHNELL

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday said the nation's forces are “trying to degrade Hamas’s terrorist abilities,” after violence in the region escalated over the past week.

Read the full story here

Ron Johnson calls cyberattacks an 'existential' threat following Colonial Pipeline shutdown

By CELINE CASTRONUOVO

Sen. Ron Johnson (R-Wis.) said Sunday that the cyberattack on the Colonial Pipeline that forced its shutdown exposed the “vulnerabilities” in the U.S. electrical grid that could pose an “existential” threat to the country’s energy system.

Read the full story here