Civic Register
| 5.12.21

House GOP Votes to Remove Liz Cheney From Leadership Post

Do you agree or disagree with the House GOP removing Liz Cheney from leadership?

What’s the story?

  • The House Republican conference on Wednesday cast a voice vote to remove Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) from her post as conference chair, the third-highest ranking leadership position among GOP lawmakers. The House GOP is expected to select a replacement for the role in the coming days.
  • Cheney has been highly critical of former President Donald Trump for his efforts to cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 presidential election and his role in the riot at the Capitol that interrupted the certification of the Electoral College on January 6th. She was one of 10 House Republicans to vote for his impeachment on January 13th.
  • While Cheney’s actions in the aftermath of the impeachment vote rankled many GOP lawmakers who wanted her to be removed from her leadership post, she survived a vote to oust her on February 3rd in which she prevailed by a margin of 145-61. 
  • However, the angst within the GOP conference continued to grow in the ensuing weeks as Cheney’s continued to make public remarks that criticized Trump prompted concerns that she was distracting from a unified GOP message in response to the nascent Biden administration and was undercutting her party’s efforts to retake the House in 2022. 
  • House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) supported Cheney in the February vote and held private discussions with her in the aftermath about toning down her public criticism of Trump. But by late April, McCarthy was openly critical of Cheney for continuing to make public statements about Trump despite concerns raised by rank-and-file GOP lawmakers and told Politico:
“There’s a responsibility, if you’re gonna be in leadership, leaders eat last. And when leaders try to go out, and not work as one team, it creates difficulties.”
  • Cheney gave a floor speech on Tuesday night ahead of the vote to remove her from leadership in the GOP conference, in which she said Trump misled millions of Americans and that he is still “sowing seeds of doubt about whether democracy really works at all.” She added:
“This is not about policy. This is not about partisanship. This is about our duty as Americans. Remaining silent, and ignoring the lie, emboldens the liar. 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.”
  • After Wednesday’s vote to oust her, Cheney told reporters that she doesn’t feel betrayed by the vote and reiterated her criticism of former President Trump:
“I think that it is an indication of where the Republican Party is and I think that the party is in a place that we’ve got to bring it back from, and we’ve got to get back to a position where we are a party that can fight for conservative principles, that can fight for substance. We cannot be dragged backward by the very dangerous lies of a former president.”

What’s next?

  • The House Republican conference is expected to hold a candidate forum as early as Thursday for members who want to be considered for the now-vacant post of conference chair. A vote to elect the GOP conference chair could occur as early as Friday.
  • Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-NY) has been campaigning for the role and is, so far, the only GOP lawmaker doing so publicly. Some GOP lawmakers have criticized Stefanik for being insufficiently conservative and too moderate, so it’s possible a challenger may emerge before a final vote.
  • The House GOP conference chair leads meetings of the conference along with its day-to-day operations and plays a primary role in messaging about policy issues the conference wants to emphasize. The position’s counterpart on the other side of the aisle is the Democratic caucus chair, which serves in a similar role. Both posts are seen as a springboard to the upper tier of leadership in the House or to a higher profile political office.


— Eric Revell

(Photo Credit: Cheney: U.S. House Office of Photography / Public Domain)

  • 94
    Steve
    06/02/2021

    Kick that asshole out of the party

  • 84
    Teala
    05/21/2021

    She’s the only one that spoke up for the good of Americans

  • 25
    Max
    05/20/2021

    Support Liz Chaney. Get rid of the insurrectionists in Congress! They do not value our Constitution!

  • 214
    BigBlueSky
    05/19/2021

    The GOP is a has been. I hope those who are silenced by the Trumists form their on party. There is no hope for actual policy fights until a rational group emerge on the right.

  • 34
    Sybille
    05/19/2021

    If the Republican Party will not hold itself accountable and condemn Trump for what he was and still is, the next election will blow up in their faces. Cheney was absolutely right is standing up and speaking out against him. Anyone who would rather cheer him on and reap financial benefits or favors from doing so is out for their own gain and has no interest in actually serving their country and attending to ITS prosperity and longevity as a whole.

  • 63
    Stacy
    05/18/2021

    The only people talking about the past are the stupid Democrats and Liz Chaney. If Trump is not in office why keep bringing him up. That would be like me going into the house and talking about oral sex in the White House and how that is not sex. Let’s move on and fix this country rather than dividing it more with bs.

  • 79
    Randall
    05/18/2021

    She does not support the Republican party in anyway. Should be removed.

  • 48
    muguette
    05/18/2021

    if the gop continues to shoot itself in the foot and cut off its nose to spite its face, maybe it will implode, deflate and disintegrate for the good of the country.

  • 254
    Robert
    05/17/2021

    Liz Cheney has done nothing compared to Matt Gaetz and Donald Trump. Trump and Gaetz have molested young women as often as they take a breath. The GOP needs to reevaluate their points of "common sense." Harming teenage girls is far more damaging than anything Liz Cheney could do. The shoes of the GOP are very soiled by their in-action to these issues and the insurrection on Jan. 6th. You all should be ashamed.

  • 34
    Randy
    05/16/2021

    I’ve been voting republican for 40 years and I will not support you again!

  • 73
    Sherri
    05/16/2021

    Republicans are rediculous, you remove Cheney for speaking the truth, after kissing the biggest liars ass for 4 years. You have lost all credibility. I hope the members of your party that you continue to support, like Trump and Gaetz, take you all down with them. The Republican Party is a sinking ship of racists and pedophiles, and those who provide cover for them.

  • 41.9k
    jimK
    05/12/2021

    Bye Bye GOP. If they, as a party, are willing to endorse one of the biggest and most dangerous lies in the history of this country, what else have they lied about? What else will they lie to the electorate about for their own self-serving interests? Why do they feel that they deserve any aspect of the public trust? Why would any person believe anything that they say? Time for rational people to react with outrage and just vote them into oblivion - before they push legislation empowering themselves to stay in office forever or at least until they lose favor with their new king.

  • 67
    Ryan
    05/16/2021

    She’s become like the deceased bitter John McCain, Mitt Romney and the rest of the Republican In the Name Only squad

  • 468
    burrkitty
    05/15/2021

    I agree to the GOP continuing its embarrassing self-destruction. If they don’t have the sense that God gave a squirrel to retain their intelligent sane voices let them destroy themselves

  • 122
    Robert
    05/15/2021

    The GOP-Q Republican Party are DEPLORABLE Trump/Pence puppets.

  • 389
    David
    05/15/2021

    Remove any Republican who is not a conservative constitutionalist! Restore the ORIGINAL intent of our founding document!

  • 202
    Ann
    05/15/2021

    For some reason, Republicans want to tie themselves to a very unpopular President. Trump never got to 50% approval. 81 million people voted him out of office. The only way he could possibly come back is to rig the voting system against Democrats and kill democracy.

  • 21
    Jeremiah
    05/14/2021

    Joined this app hoping to get new perspectives on a variety of topics. So far all I see are just a regurgitation of whatever people get from their favorite news source…..CNN, MSNBC,FOX. Disappointed. Seems similar to Facebook.

  • 127
    Michele
    05/12/2021

    Not a Cheney fan at all. But when the reason she is removed is because she didn’t support the lies of the former president, the republicans should be ashamed of themselves.

  • 33
    John
    05/13/2021

    Liz Cheney is one of the few republicans to hold on to the truth and not spout the big lie regarding the 2020 election. Trump did not win this election and should be considered a threat to the republic. He should not be allowed to hold office and should face incarceration because of his insurrectionist activities on January 6, 2021. The Republican Party is now the Insurrectionist Party and those who don’t conform should separate themselves from this party and begin anew. YOU ARE ALL GUILTY IF YOU BELIEVE IN THE BIG LIE! Rubio and Scott are not for the republic! They too are insurrectionist!