Republicans on Friday censured two lawmakers over perceived disloyalty to former US President Donald Trump, AFP reported.
The two lawmakers are Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger, the lone Republicans on the House committee investigating Trump's role in last year's US Capitol assault.
The party's 168 national committee members, gathered for their winter meeting in Salt Lake City, Utah, approved a formal censure accusing the pair of behavior that is "destructive to the US House of Representatives, the Republican Party and our republic."
"Shame falls on a party that would censure persons of conscience, who seek truth in the face of vitriol," said Senator Mitt Romney, the 2012 Republican presidential nominee.
"Honor attaches to Liz Cheney and Adam Kinzinger for seeking truth even when doing so comes at great personal cost," he added.
The censure passed by an overwhelming voice vote without any discussion, as the party officially declared the Capitol assault and events that led to it "legitimate political discourse", according to AFP.
Cheney, daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, was one of a handful of House Republicans who crossed party lines and voted to impeach Trump on charges of “inciting insurrection” following the US Capitol riots.
In the past, Cheney has accused Trump of "provoking an attack on the United States Capitol to prevent the counting of electoral votes.
She was censured last year by the Republican Party in her home state of Wyoming for voting to impeach Trump.
Kinzinger has already announced he will not seek reelection in 2022.
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)