Report card hands out grades to state Republicans who supported Trump impeachment
Apr 26, 2021, 2:46 PM | Updated: May 31, 2021, 5:00 pm
Rep. Jaime Herrera Beutler (left) and Rep. Dan Newhouse (right). (Getty Images)
(Getty Images)
Washington Representatives Dan Newhouse and Jaime Herrera-Beutler have both been under fire within the Republican Party, after joining eight other of their GOP colleagues in the House in voting to impeach then-President Donald Trump. While that may not have scored them points among Republicans, it did earn them high marks in a new “Democracy Report Card” released this last week.
Rep. Herrera Beutler censured by Clark County GOP
The report card — compiled by a group known as the Republican Accountability Project (RAP), formerly known as Republican Voters Against Trump (RVAT) — graded Republican members of Congress in every state based on four criteria:
- Whether they signed onto a Texas amicus brief in December, which has sought to have the U.S. Supreme Court invalidate a combined 62 electoral votes that went to President Joe Biden
- Whether they objected to the certification of the 2020 election results on Jan. 6
- Whether they frequently made public comments either challenging or casting doubt on the 2020 election results
- Whether they voted to impeach or convict then-President Trump in the wake of the Jan. 6 riot at the U.S. Capitol
Collectively, Washington state’s Congressional Republicans were one of just three groups to collectively receive an “A” grade in the report, joining Maine and Alaska.
Rep. Herrera-Beutler received high marks across the board, having met all four criteria outlined in the report, and cumulatively being awarded an “A.”
Rep. Newhouse met three of the four criteria, having signed on to the Texas amicus brief in December. At the time, he stated that his aim was to “defend our Constitution and instill confidence in our election system — not to overturn the election results.” Having met the other requirements laid out in the report, though, he still received an A-minus.
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Rep. Cathy McMorris Rodgers received the lowest grade among Washington’s representatives with a D-minus, having signed on to the amicus brief, made several public statements in support of Trump’s election challenges, and having voted against impeachment in the House. While she was credited by the report for not voting against certification, she had previously vowed to join her Republican colleagues in objecting to the 2020 election results before reversing course after the Jan. 6 riot.
While the RAP doesn’t claim any specific political affiliation, the group has “pledged to raise and spend $50 million to defend Republicans who acted to hold President Trump accountable for inciting an attack on the U.S. Capitol.”
Both Newhouse and Herrera-Beutler will likely face off against fellow Republicans in their respective primaries in 2022, which will include former gubernatorial candidate Loren Culp, who announced his campaign to unseat Newhouse last week.
