Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY) was the first House Republican to support the rushed second impeachment of President Trump. Nine other Republicans ultimately followed Cheney, the House Republican Conference chair, in joining with Democrats to impeach the president with just days left in his term.
Cheney's followers in the House now appear to be following the Wyoming representative in a new way: getting censured for their vote to impeach Trump.
The Republican Party in Allegan County, Michigan, voted to censure U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) following his vote to impeach then-President Trump earlier this month. The censure was confirmed by a unanimous voice vote at a convention held on Jan. 21.
Republicans said Upton "ignored the voice of his voters in Allegan County" by voting with Democrats to impeach Trump following "incomplete evidence, little debate, and the absence of due process," according to Mlive.
The Wyoming Republican Party similarly blasted Rep. Liz Cheney for her impeachment vote, saying the vote prompted a torrent of angry calls and emails from constituents upset at the state's at-large representative for "aligning herself with leftists."
Following the outcry, the Republican Party Central Committee in Carbon County, Wyoming, unanimously voted to censure Cheney for her vote. The Committee also demanded the congresswoman present herself before the group to explain herself.
In a statement, Cheney defended her vote by claiming President Trump "summoned this mob, assembled the mob, and lit the flame of this attack," which "caused injury, death and destruction in the most sacred space in our Republic."
Cheney's allegations do not square with reports that some rioters at the Capitol planned the events in advance and ignored the president's explicit order to his supporters to protest peacefully. Officials have said the investigation into the events surrounding the Capitol riot could take weeks to complete as investigators gather and pursue evidence.
Still, without the official findings, Democrat Senate Leader Chuck Schumer plans to begin Trump's second impeachment trial on Feb. 8.
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