GOP Purges Hardliners

As the incessantly chattered-about fiscal cliff approaches, the GOP has begun purging its hard-right members from key congressional committees.

The decisions were made by the GOP Steering Committee at a Monday meeting, which reviewed a spreadsheet listing each GOP lawmaker and how often he or she had voted with leadership, three sources said.  Reps. David Schweikert of Arizona and Walter Jones of North Carolina were booted from the Financial Services Committee. Reps. Justin Amash of Michigan and Tim Huelskamp of Kansas were removed from the Budget Committee. According to a source, Schweikert was told that he was ousted in part because his “votes were not in lockstep with leadership.” Michael Steel, a spokesman for Boehner, said, “The Steering Committee makes decisions based on a range of factors.”  One GOP leadership aide said, “Changes are made for a variety of reasons, most often at the request of committee chairs.”

The wailing on Tea Party-dominated sites such as Breitbart and Daily Caller has been a thing of beauty.