Presented by Pharma.

Hey, good morning, playbookers. I'm Raghumanavalin. It's Tuesday, and the fallout of the

centuries of Liz Cheney and Adam Kinsinger has made its way to the Hill. This is your Politico

Playbook Daily Briefing.

Hill Republicans returned to town on Monday and lit into R&C chair Ronna McDaniel.

Senate Republicans went on the record to say that looking back to 2020 is a losing strategy

that won't help the party flip both chambers of Congress.

And they're furious that the RNC would dub the activities of January 6, quote, legitimate political discourse.

We're not just talking here about an expected Mitt Romney rebuke. Though he did call his niece's decision, quote, legitimate political discourse. We're not just talking here about an expected Mitt Romney

rebuke, though he did call his niece's decision, quote, very unfortunate, even stupid.

The pushback extended from rank-and-fow lawmakers all the way up to GOP leadership,

as Politico's Burgess Everett, Marianne, and Olivia Beavers right today. Senate Minority Whip John

Thune, the number two

Senate Republican who might replace Mitch McConnell as a GOP leader someday, had this to say, quote, The focus right now needs to be forward, not backward. If you want to get our majorities in the fall, it's better to turn our fire on Democrats, not each other. Senator John Cornyn, another potential McConnell's successor, quote, they did say in their resolution that the job was to win elections.

I agree with that. But then they go to... each other. Senator John Cornyn, another potential McConnell's successor, quote, they did say in their

resolution that the job was to win elections.

I agree with that, but then they go on to engage in actions than make it more challenging.

Even Trump-ally Senator Lindsey Graham was mad enough to call McDaniel and personally expressed

his disappointment that the RNC was moving, quote, in the wrong direction as the Chamber's

fate hangs in the balance. Quote, all of us up here want to talk about forward, not backward. A National Republican Senatorial Committee Chairman Rick Scott, who has aligned himself closely with Trump, distanced himself from the legitimate political discourse language. He told CNN's Manu Raju, quote, that's a decision that members of the RNC get to make.

I think what happened on January 6 was wrong.

It's worth noting, though, that late Monday night, Scott defended McDaniel more generally on Twitter. Here's the question, though, what now? Privately. Many Hill Republicans hope the RNC will learn a lesson from the episode. The controversy is why House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy didn't want to kick Cheney and Kinzinger out of the House GOP conference.

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