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: He worried it would become a major distraction from issues Republicans want to focus on, such as inflation and the border. Indeed, the RNC’s discussions about midterm strategy last weekend were drowned out by the censure drama.

Defenders of the RNC say the Senate GOP should stop clutching their pearls. Obviously this is Trump’s party, they argue. And if the RNC members want to go this way, McDaniel had no choice but to do what her members wanted.

McConnell plans to publicly address the censure today. The GOP leader has been something of a broken record in trying to tell his party to focus on the future, not the past — so you can imagine what he’ll say.

Don’t expect similar public rebukes from House GOP members. McCarthy has long instructed his caucus to deflect or not answer reporters’ questions about the latest Trump outrage and internal party divisions — and keep the blunt words for private discussions.