Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives have voted to remove Wyoming Rep. Liz Cheney from GOP leadership in Congress.
In a months-in-the-making decision, House Republicans ousted Cheney on Wednesday morning from her third-ranking position as the caucus’ conferences chairwoman. Cheney has been a vocal and constant critic of former President Donald Trump.
The Republicans' voice vote lasted less than 20 minutes during a closed-door meeting, The Associated Press reported.
Speaking to the caucus before the vote, Cheney told her peers, “If you want leaders who will enable and spread his (Trump’s) destructive lies, I’m not your person, you have plenty of others to choose from. That will be their legacy,” Politico reported.
“But I promise you this, after today, I will be leading the fight to restore our party and our nation to conservative principles, to defeating socialism, to defending our republic, to making the GOP worthy again of being the party of Lincoln,” she said.
On Tuesday evening, Cheney addressed the House in a floor speech condemning Republicans for supporting Trump’s baseless claim of election fraud.
- “Today we face a threat America has never seen before. A former president — who provoked a violent attack on this Capital in an effort to steal the election — has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him. He risks inciting further violence,” Cheney told the House.
- “The election is over. That is the rule of law. That is our constitutional process. Those who refuse to accept the rulings of our courts are at war with the Constitution,” she said.
- “Remaining silent and ignoring the lie, emboldens the liar,” Cheney said of the GOP’s continued support of Trump. “I will not participate in that. I will not sit back and watch in silence while others lead our party down a path that abandons the rule of law and joins the former president’s crusade to undermine our democracy.”
House Republicans turn on Cheney
House Minority Kevin McCarthy, from California, said this past weekend that he’d lost confidence in Cheney’s role as a leader in the party and supported replacing her with New York Rep. Elise Stefanik.
- “Everyone in leadership serves at the pleasure of the caucus,” McCarthy said on Fox News Sunday.
- In a letter to House Republicans ahead of Wednesday’s vote, McCarthy said, “Each day spent re-litigating the past is one less day we have to seize the future,” according to Politico.
Republican House Whip Rep. Steve Scalise, the caucus’ second-ranking leader, also said last week he supported replacing Cheney with the Stefanik.
Cheney — a staunch conservative and daughter of former two-term Vice President Dick Cheney — survived a similar confidence vote in February by a sweeping 145-61 majority. That vote came a month after the representative, and nine other House Republicans, voted to impeach former President Trump.
The House Republicans' latest rebuke of Cheney — who’s continued to be outspoken against Trump’s “Big Lie” about election fraud — appears to show that the GOP is doubling-down on the former president’s Make America Great Again movement.
What Republicans are saying
Former Republican Arizona Sen. Jeff Flake said on Twitter Wednesday, that Cheney was “removed from House Leadership for speaking the truth.”
- “In the end, truth will prevail,” Flake added, in defense of Cheney.
In a op-ed in The Washington Post on Tuesday, Flake said, “This is your contemporary Republican Party, where today there is no greater offense than honesty.”
- “It is elementary to have to say this, but we did not become a great nation by believing or espousing nonsense, or by embracing lunacy. And if my party continues down this path, we will not be fit to govern,” the Republican added in the op-ed.
Rep. Adam Kinzinger — a Republican from Illinois and lieutenant colonel in the Air National Guard — said in a Twitter thread Wednesday morning, “As a Christian, I have read the words of Christ many times. Nowhere have I seen him say or imply that it’s OK to lie, so long as you own the Libs.”
- “My hope is that America awakens to recognize there are many that feel left behind that Trump manipulates, but to help them we need to stop reflecting their fears back at them, listen to them and have solutions. I hope we wake up, admit it was us that caused Jan 6th, and use this to change course,” the Republican congressman added.
Ahead of Wednesday’s vote to unseat Cheney from GOP leadership, Trump said he looked forward to Cheney’s removal and that “Republicans House of Representatives have a great opportunity today to rid themselves of a poor leader,” according to a post on his new media platform, From the Desk of Donald J. Trump.
After the vote, the twice impeached former president said Cheney is “bitter,” and accused the congresswoman of having become a “talking point for Democrats.”