Monitoring Desk
WASHINGTON DC: House Repu-blicans ousted Rep. Liz Cheney Wednesday morning in a closed-door vote from the No. 3 spot from leadership — but the Wyoming Republican remained defiant on the way out.
Cheney had remained steadfast in her opposition to former President Donald Trump and his “dangerous lies” about the 2020 election being stolen from him — putting her at odds with other House Republicans who wanted to move on from the Jan. 6 riot and unite the party to win in the 2022 midterms.
Cheney was removed by a voice vote and took a swing at Trump after the Capitol meeting.
“I will do everything I can to ensure that the former president never again gets anywhere near the Oval Office,” Cheney said after her ouster. “We have seen the danger that he continues to provoke with his language. We have seen his lack of commitment and dedication to the Constitution, and I think it’s very important that we make sure whomever we elect is somebody who will be faithful to the Constitution.”
Republicans, however, felt that Cheney’s continued comments against Trump and conflicting statements against leadership were playing in Democrats’ hands and becoming a distraction. She already survived a vote of no confidence in February, but instead of treading lightly after the warning shot, Cheney continued to double-down on her rhetoric, angering her colleagues.
So on Wednesday, Republicans were quick to move on from Cheney, with Rep. Madison Cawthorn, R-N.C., sending out a gleeful tweet after her removal.
Other Republicans said Cheney was too focused on attacking the GOP than pushing back on President Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s policies.
“For months it’s been clear that Cheney is unfit for any leadership role in the Republican Party,” said Rep. Matt Rosendale, R-Mont. “Conservatives tried to fix the problem in February, but weren’t listened to. Even so, I’m glad we’ve recognized this reality as a conference. Turning the page on her disastrous tenure will allow House Republicans to focus our messaging on fighting the Pelosi/Biden agenda.”
An election on who will replace Cheney will occur at a later date. Rep. Elise Stefanik, R-N.Y., is the front runner and has the endorsement of Trump and the top two GOP leaders: Reps. Kevin McCarthy of California and Steve Scalise of Lousiana.
Trump praised the decision to remove Cheney immediately after the vote and attacked the congresswoman and daughter of the former vice president.
“Liz Cheney is a bitter, horrible human being,” Trump said in a statement. “I watched her yesterday and realized how bad she is for the Republican Party. She has no personality or anything good having to do with politics or our country. She is a talking point for Democrats.” Stefanik, who has been actively building support for the job throughout the month, officially kicked off her public campaign for the position immediately following the Cheney vote. She promised a unified message focused on combating Democrats and socialist policies.
“Our members believe that the stakes are far too high for us to be divided,” Stefanik said in a letter to her colleagues Wednesday asking for their support. “We stand shoulder to shoulder in believing that we have a historic opportunity to work as a team to win back the Majority in 2022 on behalf of the American people and save our great country.”
But there’s been some conservative blowback to Stefanik’s coronation by leadership with certain members complaining McCarthy moved too fast to endorse her. Stefanik represents a more moderate New York district north of Albany and has a far less conservative voting record than Cheney, who represents deep-red Wyoming. The conservative group Heritage Action gave Cheney a 91% score compared to just 56% for Stefanik during the most recent Congress.
Rep. Chip Roy, a member of the House Freedom Caucus, wrote a letter to his GOP colleagues Tuesday questioning Stefanik’s voting record against Trump’s priorities and urged Republicans to either leave the No. 3 spot vacant or “choose someone who reflects our conservative values.” “Therefore, with all due respect to my friend, Elise Stefanik, let us contemplate the message Republican leadership is about to send by rushing to coronate a spokesperson whose voting record embodies much of what led to the 2018 ass-kicking we received by Democrats,” Roy, R-Texas, wrote to his colleagues in a memo obtained by Fox News.
