“The conference should vote on that,” said Representative Jim Jordan (Ohio), co-founder of the arch-conservative caucus, on Capitol Hill on Wednesday. “We should have a second vote.” Cheney was unanimously re-elected to the post in November.
The resolution obtained by POLITICO states that Cheney’s position “does not reflect that of the majority of the Republican Conference and brought the Conference into disrepute and produced discord”.
Cheney, however, made it clear that he has no intention of voluntarily leaving.
“I’m not going anywhere. This is a vote of conscience,” she told POLITICO on Capitol Hill. “It is one in which there are different points of view in our conference. But our nation is facing an unprecedented situation, since the civil war, constitutional crisis.
“This is what we need to focus on,” she added. “This is where our efforts and attention need to be.”
Meanwhile, Republican Representative John Katko of New York – who also voted for impeachment – began circulating a letter on Wednesday expressing support for Cheney and rejecting her resignations, according to a copy obtained by POLITICO.
The resistance of the party’s right flank underscores how supporting Trump’s removal can still be a politically toxic move in the Republican Party, even after he incited a violent crowd to invade the Capitol. In addition to facing the condemnation of their colleagues, Republicans who vote for impeachment may also be the target of primary pro-Trump challenges.
In addition to Cheney and Katko, only eight other Republicans voted on Wednesday for Trump’s impeachment: Reps. Adam Kinzinger of Illinois, Fred Upton of Michigan, Jaime Herrera Beutler of Washington, Dan Newhouse of Washington, David Valadao of California, Tom Rice of South Carolina, Anthony Gonzalez of Ohio and Peter Meijer of Michigan.
Still, Cheney told colleagues that he wants to be on the right side of the story and framed it as a “vote of conscience” in private conversations, according to sources.
Cheney, who is the highest-ranking Republican to publicly support the impeachment, released a statement on Tuesday explaining his support for Trump’s impeachment, saying he “summoned this crowd, assembled the crowd and lit the flame for this attack” in US Capitol last week.
“There has never been a greater betrayal by a President of the United States in office and his oath to the Constitution,” she said.
Cheney’s stance puts her in direct conflict with minority leader in the House, Kevin McCarthy (R-Calif.) And Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) – both of whom oppose impeachment – and creates a dramatic divide in the leadership of the Republican Party.
Some at the GOP conference are frustrated with all their leaders.
“I think when Kevin and Steve supported an unconstitutional challenge to the election, and when [Liz Cheney] is supporting a constitutionally flawed impeachment, we have leadership problems, “Rep. Ken Buck (R-Col.) told reporters.
McCarthy declined to answer reporters’ questions on Wednesday about whether he thinks Cheney deserves to stay in the lead. But a Republican plugged into the House, who is not a member of Freedom Caucus and does not want to see Cheney resign, predicted that most of the Republican Party conference will support his withdrawal from the leadership.
Cheney’s allies, however, expect her to remain safe and also argue that it would be a bad thing for the GOP to punish Cheney and not Trump.
Other Republicans came to Cheney’s defense on Wednesday, including newcomer Rep. Nancy Mace. The South Carolina Republican is not voting for Trump’s impeachment, but has criticized the president and his Republican colleagues for their role in the crisis.
“We must not silence dissenting voices,” said Mace. “That is one of the reasons why we are at it today, is that we allow QAnon conspiracy theorists to lead us.”
Congressman Chip Roy (R-Texas) also rejected calls for Cheney to resign, although they disagreed over the impeachment. “Liz should be commended, not condemned, for standing up for the Constitution and being true to her beliefs,” he said.
And Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) tweeted that Cheney “has a lot more backbone than most” and “will continue to be a much needed leader at the conference, with my full support”.
“We can disagree without separating,” he added.
In addition to supporting the impeachment, Cheney also angered some of his colleagues for taking a public stand against contesting election results before the January 6 vote, even sending a 21-page memo arguing why contesting President-elect Joe’s victory Biden would be unconstitutional. More than 120 House Republicans ended up joining the objections.
The same Republicans who supported the president’s baseless allegations of electoral fraud, which fueled the deadly siege of the Capitol, now lead the charge against Cheney. But some of these lawmakers now face requests for censorship, resignation or an investigation into their own roles.
The episode is just the most recent chapter in the ongoing conflict between Cheney and the right wing of the Republican Party conference. While Cheney had long rejected Trump on matters of foreign policy and national security, the hardliners started to turn against her last summer when she criticized Trump’s treatment with the coronavirus and also supported a major opponent of Rep. Thomas Massie (R-Ky.)
At the time, some conservatives even discussed recruiting someone to challenge them to chair the conference, but that never came to pass; Cheney was unanimously chosen in November to serve another two-year term in leadership.
But some Republicans regretted not having forced a roll call vote after she made a statement asking Trump to respect the “sanctity” of the election if he could not prove his allegations of electoral fraud in court. Freedom Caucus, a group of about 30 hardline conservatives, constitutes a key electoral bloc in the Republican Party, although its power has diminished in the minority.
“She shouldn’t be serving this conference,” said Freedom Caucus President Andy Biggs (R-Ariz.). “That’s it.”
Ben Leonard and Olivia Beavers contributed to this report.