In February, the Alabama Republican Party passed a resolution calling for the removal of U.S. Rep. Liz Cheney, R-Wyoming, from her position in the Republican leadership in Congress. At the time, this seemed to be a far-fetched possibility, but in the weeks since, support for Cheney has precipitously declined and it now appears inevitable that the Republican Caucus may actually topple Cheney and replace her with New York Congresswoman Elise Stefanik as chair of the Republican Conference.
Cheney originally survived an ouster vote in the wake of her controversial decision to vote to impeach President Donald Trump. That decision has increasingly come under fire from the Republican base. House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy, R-California, was caught trashing her and predicting a vote to remove her from leadership on a hot mic on Tuesday last week.
“I’ve had it with her. You know, I’ve lost confidence,” McCarthy told a Fox News host in an off-camera exchange. “Well, someone just has to bring a motion” to oust her, he continued, “but I assume that will probably take place.”
The No. 2 Republican in the House, Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, then came out publicly in favor of replacing Cheney as the No. 3 Republican with Stefanik.
“House Republicans need to be solely focused on taking back the House in 2022 and fighting against Speaker Pelosi and President Biden’s radical socialist agenda, and Elise Stefanik is strongly committed to doing that, which is why Whip Scalise has pledged to support her for Conference Chair,” Scalise’s spokesperson, Lauren Fine, said in a statement.
“Liz Cheney was put on notice when our conference held a vote to remove her in February,” Rep. Lance Gooden, R-Texas, said in a statement. “Her role is to lead House Republican messaging, but she is totally unaligned with the majority of our party. We cannot fight for the America First agenda with her in a leadership position.”
Cheney has to this point refused to quietly step down, so a vote is likely in a closed-door meeting of the House Republican Caucus on Wednesday.
Alabama Republican Party Executive Committee member and former state Rep. Perry Hooper Jr. authored the ALGOP resolution demanding that Cheney be ousted. Hooper applauded the impending replacement of Cheney with Stefanik.
“In February I authored a Resolution that was adopted by the Alabama State Republican Executive Committee calling for the removal of Never Trumper Liz Cheney from her position as Chair of the Republican Conference,” Hooper said in a statement. “Unfortunately, she is still in her position of power. With each passing day it is becoming more and more apparent that Liz Cheney does not represent the values of the Republican Party, but the values of the Swamp. She now has Nancy Pelosi singing her praises. As the nation watched, she gave Joe Biden an ‘atta boy’ fist bump while he was on his way to deliver his speech outlining his plan to turn the United States into a socialist nightmare. Cheney is so out of touch with the grassroots of the party that she has stated that President Trump ‘doesn’t have a role in the future of the GOP.’ She constantly belittles Trump supporters.”
“Solid Trump supporting, conservative New York Representative Elise Stefanik is the perfect choice to replace Cheney as Chair of the Republican Conference,” Hooper said. “She has the support of House Republican Whip Steve Scalise.”
“Since she was first elected in 2014, she has worked hard to recruit, support and elect more conservative Republican women to Congress through her fundraising committee known as E-PAC,” Hooper said. “Representative Stefanik hit the campaign trail hard in 2020. She raised a lot of money for Republicans in the 2020 election cycle. She was instrumental as Republicans won upset elections throughout the country and turning 14 blue seats red.”
Hooper said that U.S. Rep. Virginia Foxx of North Carolina is expected to make the formal motion to remove Cheney.
“The House Republicans must move on from Cheney’s divisive presence in their leadership. Republicans must be united to take back the House in 2022, and Elise Stefanik is the perfect leader for this effort,” Hooper concluded. “Cheney must be put on the back bench. The voters of Wyoming will do the rest.”
