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Could We Soon See Liz Cheney Gone from Leadership?

Rebecca Downs
Rebecca Downs  |  May 02, 2021 4:45 PM

Rep. Liz Cheney (R-WY), who is the chair of the House Republican Conference and the third-highest ranking Republican in the U.S. House, has found herself in the news quite a bit lately. Matt reported last week that she said she thinks she may even run for president in 2024, after being particularly vocal in impeaching Trump the second time around, while she continues to trash him to this day. Well, Republican leaders have had enough of her, and may even be willing to push her out, according to Axios. 

On Saturday, Jonathan Swan, Glen Johnson and Alayna Treene reported, "Scoop: GOP leaders threaten Cheney ouster." Honestly, it sounds like House Minority Leader Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) and Minority Whip Steve Scalise (R-LA), the highest and second-highest ranking Republicans in the House, respectively, have been fed up with her for some time.

Perhaps Cheney's most vocal opponent, for the time being, is Rep. Jim Banks (R-IN), chairman of the Republican Study Committee. He called the congresswoman out for the "unwelcome distraction" that she is:

What they're saying: Banks said such comments detracted from a unified focus about how to beat the Democrats in the 2022 midterms.

  • "That’s what we got out of Liz Cheney, which doesn’t help us remain focused on that single goal," the congressman said during an interview he offered to Axios.
  • "Her lack of focus on that, while being focused on other things, and proving her point, was an unwelcome distraction."
  • “The sort of sideline distractions at the GOP retreat will only serve to hold us back from being focused on that nearly unanimous goal we have as a conference," Banks added.

Asked whether he thought Cheney, who serves in the No. 3 party role as GOP conference chair, will retain that position in a month, Banks said, "I don't know."

  • “That’s up to her," he added. "I think a lot of us would like to see her join the team, be on the same team, same mission, the same focus. And at this point, that’s what many of us are questioning."
  • Banks said his view didn't just go up the leadership ranks but down through the House GOP rank-and-file.
  • The Republican Study Committee has 154 members, the largest group among the 212 Republicans currently serving in the House.

For what it's worth, Cheney called a memo Rep. Banks wrote "neo-Marxist." I thought she hated that kind of name-calling which came from Trump, though? 

Now, Rep. Cheney did hold onto her leadership role pretty handily, with a healthy margin in a secret ballot of 145-61. This chatter may just be another warning to "come on now, cut it out." But seriously, Liz Cheney, cut it out. 

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It's been a weekend for RINOs in the news, actually. As I covered last night, Sen. Mitt Romney was booed during the Utah GOP convention, though a resolution to censure him ultimately failed. 

Sen. Susan Collins of Maine said during her "State of the Union" appearance that she was "appalled" to see Romney booed. She also called Rep. Cheney "a woman of strength and conscience. And she did what she felt was right and I salute her for that. We need to be accepting of differences in our party. We don’t want to become like too much of the Democratic Party, which has been taken over by the progressive Left."