House Republicans are facing an internal debate over whether to remove Congresswoman Liz Cheney from her leadership post after she voted for impeachment former President Trump for inciting the January 6 riot on Capitol Hill. The debate has become so fierce that some Republicans fear it will prevent the conference from offering a unified front against President Biden’s new policies.
Republican representatives Matt Rosendale of Montana and Andy Biggs of Arizona are among the members who have gathered support from their colleagues to vote for a resolution removing the Wyoming Republican as president of the Republican conference. Sources familiar with the effort say more than 115 of the 211 Republicans would vote to remove it, although they refused to share the list.
A Republican official expressed skepticism about these figures, telling CBS News: “I want to see the evidence. Show me the list.”
House minority leader Kevin McCarthy and Republican Whip Steve Scalise, who were re-elected to their positions with Cheney in November, publicly supported their colleague. But in an interview with Greta Van Susteren scheduled to air on Sunday, McCarthy said Cheney did not share his position with him ahead of time and has “concerns” that Cheney needs to address before the conference.
“She may have a different opinion, but the only thing we are going to lead at the conference is that we must work together at this conference as a whole, because we are representatives of that conference,” said McCarthy.
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Cheney remained defiant throughout the process, telling reporters on the day of the impeachment vote, “I’m not going anywhere.” Asked about the threat of eviction in an interview with Fox News on Thursday, she said there would be discussions about the process, but added: “I look forward and I am confident that we will be united as a Conference going forward. We recognize the importance of certifying make sure that we are standing up and fighting the policies of the Biden government. ”
The highest-ranking woman at the conference, Cheney is seen as a possible future leader in the House – especially when she missed the chance to run for a Senate seat in Wyoming last year. Now she drew three primary challengers for her House seat, including Wyoming State Senator Anthony Bouchard, who said her impeachment vote “shows how far she is from Wyoming”.
Cheney was the best known and most senior of the 10 House Republicans who voted to impeach the former president. After making the announcement, Rosendale asked her to resign, saying that she “failed to consult the Conference, failed to follow the spirit of the Republican Conference rules and ignored the preferences of Republican voters.”
The main problem for Republicans to support the removal effort was Cheney’s decision to announce his position the day before the vote, a source familiar with efforts to remove Cheney from his leadership position told CBS News. During the debate the next day, House Democrats quoted their words on the floor.
“We had an impeachment vote that week and the night before the impeachment vote, the conference president issued the statement that was used as a club by Democrats all day … there was a level of extreme frustration there,” said the source.
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More than a dozen Republicans, including some senior members of the conference, publicly supported his decision. Michael McCaul, the top Republican on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said removing it “sends a bad message” after McCarthy told House Republicans that they should vote for their consciences about impeachment.
“At the moment, we must focus on preventing President Biden from enacting some of his most liberal agenda items, including returning to the Paris Climate Agreement and stopping the construction of the Keystone Pipeline, rather than fighting with each other,” he added.
Even Texas representative Chip Roy – who is at House Freedom Caucus with some of the members working to remove Cheney – supported her. “Liz should be commended, not condemned, for standing up for the Constitution and being true to her beliefs,” he said.
Removing Cheney as chairman of the conference would require a multi-step process. First, his detractors would need to gather the signatures of at least 43 members – 20% of the caucus – to convene a special meeting of the Republican conference. There, they could file a resolution to remove it from their work. If two-thirds of the House Republicans agree, they can proceed directly to vote on the resolution.
Otherwise, McCarthy could send the resolution to one of the Republican Party’s internal committees – which would include some members of the leadership – to make a decision. If they report a favorable recommendation on the resolution, it goes to the conference for a secret ballot. If they reported an unfavorable recommendation, the resolution would fail and die.
While leadership support is likely to help Cheney keep his job, there are concerns that allowing the effort to remove her to get here has encouraged the caucus’ far right and is preventing the Republican Party from presenting a unified front against Biden.
“This is a bad message to send to women, it is a bad message to send to our freshmen,” said a Republican official who was granted anonymity to speak openly. The official said any success in removing Cheney from leadership would signal to members that they could face primary challenges supported by their peers if they did not follow conservative orthodoxy.
“You give them an inch that they’ll take a mile. If he gives them that, what happens next?” the official said.
Arden Farhi contributed reporting.