Rep. Liz Cheney (R-Wy.) has been removed from House GOP leadership following a closed-door voice vote among Republicans in the chamber, according to multiple sources.
Cheney’s ouster comes following weeks of conflict with the rest of House Republican leadership and the general membership over her repeated public statements on the floor regarding the 2020 election, former-President Donald Trump, and the January 6 riot at the capitol building. Many of the president’s supporters called on leadership to hold a vote on removing her, which Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy granted earlier this week.
The Wednesday morning vote was held behind closed doors and was a voice vote, so there will be no count of who was officially for or against her, though some Republicans, like Lance Gooden of Texas, have publicly remarked on social media what their vote was.
It’s official- Liz Cheney has been fired from House Leadership and I was proud to vote against her.
— Lance Gooden (@Lancegooden) May 12, 2021
Cheney apparently spoke to her colleagues ahead of the vote, holding her ground while acknowledging her time appears done as a House Republican Conference Chair.
Cheney: “To do that, we must be true to our principles and to the constitution. We cannot let the former president drag us backward and make us complicit in his efforts to unravel our democracy. Down that path lies our destruction, and potentially the destruction of our country.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 12, 2021
Cheney tells members: “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.”
— Manu Raju (@mkraju) May 12, 2021
There is currently no word on who will officially replace her, though Rep. Elise Stefanik has made a very public play for the spot and has received key endorsements for the job.
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