It seems that Matt Gaetz was blowing smoke when he said earlier this morning that the votes were there to oust Liz Cheney from leadership.

Tonight, after an afternoon meeting to discuss the issue, the vote was finally held and it wasn’t particularly close.

BREAKING: The vote to remove Rep Liz Cheney has failed, she will remain in her House leadership role

145 vs 61

— Breaking911 (@Breaking911) February 4, 2021

Gaetz apparently left in a huff, refusing to take any questions from reporters. I can’t say that I blame him. I’m sure I’d do the same in that position. This was a resounding defeat for what he was stumping for, and Cheney is already rubbing it in his face.

Liz Cheney said they had a “terrific vote” and a “terrific time” tonight.

— John McCormack (@McCormackJohn) February 4, 2021

There’s that patented arrogance that wants to keep us in Afghanistan until the end of days. I guess she earned it, though. The chest puffing will be visible over the next few days, and you can expect her grip on power to only increase. No one is really stopping to ask whether that’s actually a good thing for the party given her paltry ability to fund-raise and divergent viewpoints from a lot of the party’s voters. Politics is politics, I suppose, and people love palace intrigue more relevant issues.

So what happened for Gaetz and his allies to go from supposedly having the votes to losing by a such a definitive margin? Either Gaetz was truly blowing smoke on having the votes in an attempt to shake some holdovers to his side, or there was some kind of major shift that happened during the meeting that occurred earlier in the day. I’m sure leaks will occur about what was said over the next few days that give a clearer picture.

Regardless, I think the status quo here isn’t actually preferable, though many on the establishment right disagree. Cheney doesn’t represent the future of the party and she’s not particularly good at her job. On second thought, I guess it shouldn’t surprise me that the GOP retained her.