Rep. Liz Cheney was just removed from her position as House GOP conference chair.
There was no debate inside the room, according to members in the room.
A GOP member says Cheney lost by voice vote. “No major drama, anticlimactic, compared to last time."
According to a source in the room, five people had to stand to request a recorded vote to remove Cheney from the leadership position. Apparently that did not happen, and the gavel came down.
Cheney told colleagues that it was up to Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy whether he wanted a voice vote or not, "and Kevin asked for voice," according to the source.
https://www.cnn.com/politics/live-news/ ... index.htmlGOP Rep. Liz Cheney spoke to reporters after the vote to oust her from leadership.
She said, "I am absolutely committed, as I said last night, as I said just now to my colleagues, that we must go forward based on truth."
Cheney continued: "We cannot both embrace the big lie and embrace the constitution. And going forward, the nation needs it. The nation needs a strong Republican party. The nation needs a party that is based upon fundamental principles of conservatism."
Cheney said she is committed and dedicated to ensuring that that's how the Republican party goes forward.
Ask how concerned she is that Donald Trump might end up back in the Oval Office, Cheney said, "I will do everything I can to ensure that the former President never again gets anywhere near the oval office."
Liz Cheney won’t move on and stop speaking about the threat to American democracy posed by Donald Trump for a simple reason: It hasn’t gone away.
Cheney spoke in a mostly empty House of Representatives on Tuesday night, after many of her fellow Republicans had spent the day saying it was time to move on from Trump’s insurrection and trashing of America’s tradition of peaceful transfers of power.
But Cheney made a blunt case that the party and the country cannot forget – not least because the peril from the seditious ex-President is still growing.
“Today we face a threat America has never seen before. A former President who provoked a violent attack on this Capitol, in an effort to steal the election, has resumed his aggressive effort to convince Americans that the election was stolen from him,” said Cheney, speaking slowly and in devastating clarity.
“He risks inciting further violence. Millions of Americans have been misled by the former President. They have heard only his words, not the truth.”
Her willingness to take on Trump ensures Cheney is headed for a prolonged period in the political wilderness. As well as losing her leadership post, she is likely to face a primary challenge from a pro-Trump candidate if she runs for reelection. She will certainly be alienated from the bulk of Republican voters and media figures who remain in Trump’s thrall. She will have the company of a small group of GOPers who voted to impeach or convict Trump over the Capitol riot on January 6 and repudiated his attack on American democracy.
Cheney is being ousted despite the fact that she is one of the most conservative members of Congress and is far more authentic in that regard than Rep. Elise Stefanik of New York, who is her likely replacement. But Stefanik has the essential qualification in the party of Trump: complete loyalty to the former President and a willingness to amplify his lies about election fraud.
There is very little sign – apart from a few honorable exceptions like Sen. Mitt Romney of Utah and Rep. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois – of any appetite in the party to change its delusional and anti-democratic course.
https://www.cnn.com/2021/05/12/politics ... index.htmlSenate Minority Whip John Thune, a South Dakota Republican who has stated publicly that Biden won an election that was not stolen, had a warning for his party on Tuesday, as Trump issued new and false claims about voter fraud.
“If we continue to rehash the 2020 election, we’re going to lose the 2022 election. If we’re talking about jobs and economy and national security and safe streets and strong borders and energy independence … we got a really good path to get the majorities back in ‘22,” he said.
Cheney countered criticisms of her conduct by telling her colleagues they had a patriotic duty to speak up, not least because a new Cold War may be brewing, this time with China, and Trump’s malfeasance was playing into propaganda designed to show America as a failed nation.
“Remaining silent and ignoring the lie emboldens the liar,” Cheney said, in a passage that seemed especially directed at McCarthy.
Trump is already out saying Cheney is "a bitter, horrible human being".
I have nothing in common with her but respect her position.