Rep. Liz Cheney was voted out of House GOP leadership in a quick voice vote Wednesday morning.
House Republicans voted quickly on Wednesday to remove Liz Cheney as their No. 3 leader over her repeated criticism of Donald Trump, a massive shakeup that ties the party tighter to Trump and threatens to create a new litmus test in the GOP.
The fast-moving campaign to dump Cheney, Congress’ highest-ranking Republican woman, and replace her with a Trump loyalist was orchestrated by House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy and his top deputies. The California Republican and his allies complained that Cheney’s constant readiness to call out Trump’s lies about the 2020 election was a distraction that prevented the party from unifying around a cohesive message to win back the House next year.
Cheney briefly addressed the conference before the voice vote, vowing to keep fighting.
“If you want leaders who will enable and spread his destructive lies, I’m not your person, you have plenty of others to choose from. That will be their legacy,” Cheney said.
“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 added.
McCarthy faced mounting pressure to oust Cheney from Trump and the right flank of his conference — a crucial voting bloc if he wants to claim the speaker’s gavel after the midterms. His push to unseat his own No. 3 culminated Wednesday in a leadership eviction that proved most shocking because of how quickly the outcome became predictable. Cheney was recalled as conference chair, a role responsible for both party messaging and member services.
Veteran GOP Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina introduced the formal resolution to boot Cheney during Wednesday’s closed-door meeting.
A replacement election for the House GOP conference chairmanship is expected to happen later this week or next week. So far, Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York — a moderate turned Trump ally — is the only candidate running for the position. She has been working quickly to lock down support, while McCarthy and members close to him are whipping members hard to support her.
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Cheney’s removal from leadership delivered a demoralizing blow to the small but vocal anti-Trump wing of the GOP, while serving up a major victory to hard-line conservatives who failed to take her down in Feb. and have agitated for her removal ever sincehttps://t.co/76VKhBuDyo
— POLITICO (@politico) May 12, 2021
"We cannot both embrace the 'Big Lie' and embrace the Constitution," Cheney told reporters after the vote https://t.co/76VKhBuDyo pic.twitter.com/P2PeF3dJQM
— POLITICO (@politico) May 12, 2021
“I don’t think anybody is questioning the legitimacy of the presidential election,” McCarthy said hours after his conference deposed Rep. Liz Cheney for criticizing fellow Republicans over that very issue https://t.co/BMb7bgUxFN pic.twitter.com/Zjfu2aKwDM
— POLITICO (@politico) May 12, 2021
Cowards right down to the wire. https://t.co/Er7HySV42G
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 12, 2021
The most unserious party in an unserious nation. https://t.co/KMpP5lieRY
— Tom Nichols (@RadioFreeTom) May 12, 2021
It was expected. Now once again, I would urge the non-members of the Trump cult to leave the GOP and form their own party. Why they stay is a mystery to me.
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